I said the following "elsewhere" to certain cretins.
if people want to know what Bobby firmino is about they ought to take another look at the moments in that arsenal game.
examples include;
who is on hand to pick up the ball and keep the move going then keita was taken out by Luiz. yes firmino. its a simple pass and salah does well to beat Tierney but there is the link play.
look who runs into the right wing channel to collect the ball so we are up the park and then retains and plays it back so we end up seeing taa cross to robertson. yup firmino.
firmino leads the press centrally then we find arsenal in tight spaces wide where players like mane and robertson then are getting the ball back as arsenal run out of room.
another example, who's the guy tackling in midfield to win it back so in the move where salah robs it off jota? Bobby.
for me this is the exact same debate as wijnaldum, he gets zero credit for the work that creates the domineering game we play.
when keita went off having done the job he was asked to do in the press then milner sat deeper and suddenly wijnaldum "comes alive" and is seen far more doing exactly what keita has been doing.
these guys are all doing their jobs in a very deliberate game plan. firmino plays his part and he simply cannot be in two places at once, you cant be winning the ball or running into channels and be hanging on the 6 yard box.
it is also a plain fact that if a side plays 5 at the back as the last two teams have done then a forward wont have space.
what we are seeing is a steamroller of a system that compresses space and forces teams to go long or break the press. that stream roller is driven by the front 3 but it requires firmino to lead it. it needs one cm pushing up and the two full backs sprinting in at pace if the ball is floated out the the full back area.
the nice thing is to watch this thursday as the second team tries to emulate this.