Luis Diaz is Liverpool’s new No.7.
The Colombian claimed the iconic number following the departure of James Milner. Though you could put forward a case for a few others, Diaz was the obvious choice.
For the most part, whoever has been in possession of the famous shirt for the Merseysiders has been a genuine game-changer, a regular match-winner and a fan favourite, and the 26-year-old certainly has the potential to tick all of those boxes.
But right now it is just that. Potential.
Consistency is key
Diaz has shown glimpses of what he’s capable of since signing for Liverpool in January 2022 but hasn’t been able to do it consistently.
He joined a team competing for a historic quadruple. The former Porto man had no pre-season to bed in and had to learn on the job. From an individual point of view, he was brilliant but the Reds had to rejig their attack to fit him in and a few players suffered.
Sadio Mane was moved centrally and it forced Diogo Jota into more of a back-up role, filling in across the forward line. Diaz being a bit of a ball magnet from the left altered the dynamic of the front three and Mohamed Salah’s numbers dropped off.
Other factors played a part in this but Diaz’s arrival was pivotal to the shift in the front three.
The big question heading into the 2022-23 campaign was whether or not Jurgen Klopp could get his new-look forward line all firing at the same time.
At first, it didn’t look like he could. The signing of Darwin Nunez changed how the Reds looked to play. Everything was a little more direct and Salah was given more of a creative role.
A changing role
Generally speaking, Diaz was still tasked with keeping the width on the left but he was often having to drop a little deeper to pick up possession with Liverpool looking to now push both the left-sided and right-sided centre-midfielders higher up to support their £64million summer signing.
These aren’t the positions you want a player like Diaz to be in.
Despite this, his start to the season was arguably the best of all Liverpool attackers in terms of output.
In the opening eight Premier League matches, Diaz had three goals and two assists. He also had a goal and an assist in three Champions League appearances. Again, though, it was a case of him performing well in a somewhat dysfunctional attack.
The knee injury he sustained against Arsenal in early October kept him out of the team until mid-April. The Liverpool XI he returned to was completely different to the one he left earlier in the season.
Klopp had tried multiple systems throughout the campaign but eventually settled on the 3-2-2-3 shape in possession with Trent Alexander-Arnold pulling the strings as part of a double pivot in midfield. Cody Gakpo arrived in January and was being deployed as a false nine and this forced Darwin into playing on the left side of a three, battling for minutes with Jota.
Diaz was the first-choice left-winger at the start of the season but he was now part of a rotation cycle with Jota and Darwin as he got up to speed following his long stint on the sidelines.
The 39-cap international did appear in the last nine Premier League matches for the Reds, making four starts. He scored against Spurs but found consistency hard to come by in those final outings.
What a moment for @LuisFDiaz19 🥰 pic.twitter.com/iEUMCHdhPZ
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 30, 2023
However, what was interesting upon his return was how he had tweaked his game.
A new system means a new Diaz
Liverpool’s 3-2-2-3 system puts more emphasis on the wide forwards coming inside. The idea is both wingers take up central positions whenever possible and the space out wide is then filled by the attacking midfielders. On the left, Curtis Jones made the role his own. On the right, Jordan Henderson was often the man tasked with occupying those zones and allowing Salah to cut inside.
During his time at Porto, Diaz was a chalk-on-his-boots type of winger. He wanted to receive the ball in wide areas and then isolate full-backs. It was what he was doing earlier on in his Liverpool career too. But, after returning to the first-team fold, he started to become a cog in the system.
The best example of this can be seen in the 4-3 win over Tottenham.
As Liverpool keep the ball centrally, Diaz (circled) drifts inside and occupies a number of defenders. The space is there because Gakpo, the centre-forward, has dropped off as he so often does.
This move eventually ends with Jones ghosting in at the back post to fire the ball into the net. He’s only in a situation to do that because Diaz has vacated the left flank and dragged players into central areas with him. It wasn’t something he was doing earlier in the campaign.
For his goal on the day, he’s again fairly central. He’s taken up that position after Gakpo went to join in with the build-up. The system only works if there is fluidity. So as soon as the Dutchman drops off, Diaz fills that space and creates opportunities in wider areas for Jones.
Diaz recently scored a headed goal for Colombia against Germany having drifted inside before attacking the space behind. This sort of movement and understanding of time and space is what turned Sadio Mane into a Golden Boot winner from the left wing.
Many people weren’t sure Diaz had that ruthlessness to his game but in the limited minutes he spent on the pitch towards the end of the season last term, he showed he does.
The numbers back it up too. Granted, the sample sizes aren’t the largest but they do tell a bit of a story.
After signing for the Reds in 2021, he played 1,014 Premier League minutes, averaging 3.56 shots per 90 with an Expected Goals per shot average of 0.1. Last season, he racked up 895 minutes and averaged 2.23 shots per 90. His Expected Goals per shot average was 0.15. Diaz is attempting fewer shots but these efforts are higher in value - he’s in better positions.
He’s shown that he can change his game. Now he needs to prove he can consistently deliver across an entire campaign. Do that and he’ll be a genuine game-changer and a regular match-winner.
