Liverpool: Will Brendan Rodgers Ruin Roberto Firmino?

Post-Luis Suarez, Brazilian central attacking midfielder Roberto Firmino, 23, is Liverpool's most exciting transfer by a significant distance.

Leaving Hoffenheim, a club that built their team around him, Firmino arrives at Anfield perhaps unaware of the snake in the grass—Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers. 

Self-Sabotage

Before endeavouring to tactically outsmart opposing managers, Rodgers needs to drop his "look at me" decision-making. 

Playing Emre Can—a footballer Pavel Nedved described as having "basically everything," per football writer Daniel Busch—in midfield is to be expected.

It is boring, logical and obvious.

However, Rodgers instructing Can to transition into a defender is bold, daring and so risky it's bordering on stupid.

Subsequently, it turns Rodgers into a talking point, where he is desperately seeking validation as an innovative manager. 

Can is a box-to-box midfielder with world-class potential, and Rodgers is hindering his development. 

"I wouldn't really call myself a right-back...indeed, the position was a surprise to me at first. I had never played it before," Can said, per Sport Bild (h/t Stephan Uersfeld at ESPN FC). "[Rodgers] knows that I prefer the role in midfield and that I see myself there in the future."

Since Suarez Rodgers led Liverpool to second place during the 2013/14 Premier League season, he has deluded himself into thinking he is a visionary genius.

Forced into playing as a No. 10, an increasingly vexed Nuri Sahin confronted Rodgers.

"I spoke with [Rodgers] and asked him why I was playing there. It is not my real position. The boss could not answer me," Sahin said, per James Pearce at the Liverpool Echo. " ... I have left Rodgers, thanks be to God."

Rodgers has a warped view to football: Can is a right-/centre-back. Dejan Lovren is worthy of replacing Jamie Carragher. Lazar Markovic is a wing-back. And Raheem Sterling is a No. 9.

Firmino, welcome to Liverpool.

Mario Balotelli's Saviour

Adapted from Wyscout

Let's say Daniel Sturridge is injured, Danny Ings is warming the bench and Divock Origi is watching from the stands.

Rather than start Firmino behind Balotelli, Rodgers might copy the Brazilian national team. 

Introducing Liverpool's new centre-forward—Firmino.

As gifted of an attacker as Firmino is, he is not an efficient finisher.

• His last 23 goals in 66 Bundesliga games came from 188 shots. 
• Since the 2013/14 season, he shoots on target 36.2 per cent of the time.
• Firmino only converted 10.9 per cent of chances this past season, per Squawka.

Adapted from Squawka

Starting Firmino up front not only adds unfair comparisons to Suarez; it will prove Rodgers' bias against Balotelli.

Imagine being a Premier League defender marking Balotelli and then seeing Firmino zip past one, two and three of your team-mates. 

Balotelli will likely receive lax marking if he plays in an attack featuring Coutinho and Firmino, on paper a nightmare combination for opposing teams.

"You'll never walk alone" is a message Rodgers must recite when he thinks about Balotelli—don't throw away a €20 million/£16 million investment.

Adapted from Wyscout

Balotelli's career can be resurrected if Rodgers plays Firmino in his natural position.

Possessing Denilson de Oliveira's willingness to surge past opposing defenders while also functioning as a creative outlet a la Ronaldinho, Firmino is a superlative footballer.

Firmino has back-to-back seasons with 10 league assists or more. He created 137 scoring chances in the last two seasons.

Rodgers must start Firmino as a No. 10.

"For Liverpool to have [Philippe] Coutinho and Firmino is a big achievement for them," Ronaldinho said, per Darren Lewis at the Daily Mirror. "If you [as a striker] can't score goals in a team with Coutinho and Firmino in midfield then you [will not] score goals in any team." 

Give Balotelli one more extended starting run, Rodgers.

Why Firmino Could Be Rodgers' Next Victim

Aggressive in winning back the ball, Firmino has an indefatigable work rate and is the anti-Balotelli.

Accumulating 378 tackles and intercepting 157 passes in 140 Bundesliga games, Firmino earned the praise of Hoffenheim manager Markus Gisdol.

"[Firmino] is now outstanding when it comes to robbing the opponent of the ball," Gisdol said, per Steffen Potter at UEFA's website. "In every training session he gives everything, like it would be his last ever."

What has propelled Firmino from unheralded Brazilian to the next great Liverpool hope is his persevering attitude, per Bernie Reeves at the Bundesliga's website:

"

At the age of just 14, [Firmino] agreed to be separated from his family by 3,000 km in the hope of becoming a professional [footballer] at Figueirense.

... Firmino once endured an entire training session of criticism from the [Figueirense] coach, but instead of complaining, nodded diligently after each whistle and set about adjusting his game accordingly

... He was made to train for two and a half hours straight, the day after an 11-hour journey back from an away game in Goiana and the day before another game.

"Anyone else would have gone crazy, because the coach was nagging [Firmino] the whole time, but he just carried on," recounted [then-Hoffenheim sporting director] Ernst Tanner.

"

Gisdol admired Firmino's grit but recognised his proficiency on the ball outweighed his tenacity.

"[Gisdol] gave me the No. 10 shirt, which is the favourite number of Brazilians," Firmino said, per Reeves. "It's the shirt worn by our idols like Pele and Ronaldinho and it was like a present for me."

Considering Rodgers' attention-seeking antics, he would be on form if he said, "Watch this," while starting Firmino as a No. 6 or a wing-back.

If he plays a more defensive role under Rodgers, Firmino might end up being Liverpool's answer to Juan Sebastian Veron.

Then-Manchester United right-back Gary Neville revealed in his autobiography that Veron was turned into a role player:

"

We'd see Seba in training and he was fantastic. He could pass and shoot, he had vision and athleticism, and he was a hard worker. 

... [Then-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson opted] not to build the team around him. Seba would have to take his games where and when he could, on the left, on the right, filling in when needed.

He'd not let us down, but it represented a demotion of sorts, not exactly what he'd been signed for, for all that money [€46 million/£28.1 million].

"

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Paying Hoffenheim €41 million/£29 million for Firmino, per BBC Sport, based on his performances as a No. 10, it would be a waste of money for Liverpool to then change his position.

This is why Rodgers should not even contemplate shifting Firmino into a different role. 

By doing so, Rodgers might ruin Firmino, a once-in-a-generation footballer.

+allanjiang.

When not specified, statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.