How Roberto Firmino's 'father figure' helped change his Liverpool career for the best

Liverpool forward, Roberto Firmino, has described Jurgen Klopp as a "father figure" for him at the club.

He told the Liverpool Echo, "Having him with us today is amazing. He never stops giving me advice. He's a massive father figure for me here at Liverpool. I'm so grateful to play under and be coached by a great leader."

Firmino didn't have the brightest starts at Liverpool. He was signed by Brendan Rodgers in 2015 but was played on the right wing for most of those games. He looked lost and nothing like the player he became during that period.

Rodgers was sacked and Klopp came in and revolutionised Firmino's Liverpool career. He played Firmino in a more familiar role as a 'false 9' and went on to score 11 and assist 11 goals in his first season.

Firmino was the first piece of the puzzle in attack to create Liverpool's super team. Liverpool signed Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in the next two seasons to go on and fully unlock Firmino's potential.

The trio formed an unstoppable attacking line, scoring 338 goals and assisting 139 times in just five incredible seasons. Sadio Mane's transfer to Bayern Munich was truly an end of an era of one of Liverpool's best attacks.

Firmino is grateful for the way that Klopp came in and change things for him at the club. He said, "I thank him for everything I've learned. I will always be highly complimentary for everything he's done for me and also the club."

Roberto Firmino and Jurgen Klopp before joining Liverpool

The Brazilian was always a big fan of Klopp, even before the two started working together. Firmino was intrigued by his personality and style of coaching.

He said, "Whenever we came up against Dortmund, Jurgen would routinely be in the middle of the pitch closely observing opposition players warm up. I'd look at him and think: 'What's going on, is he trying to intimidate us?'"

Some things never change as Jurgen Klopp still closely observes the opposition before a match starts.

Firmino on the start of the season

Despite a very good start of the season for Firmino who scored three goals and assisted three, Liverpool have started poorly.

Firmino said, "We haven't started the season well, we've had a few slip-ups and three draws, but there are a lot of games and a lot of the season to come. We can't lose our enthusiasm or let our heads go down. There's a lot of potential in our team."

The Reds won their first UEFA Champions League fixture of the season with a 2-1 win over Ajax, suggesting that Liverpool could be back on track. Firmino also believes this Liverpool side is capable of turning things around.

"We trust in our character and potential. We learn from our errors to avoid repeating them in future games. We're a big team, we know what we're capable of and we'll continue fighting until the end of the season."