Liverpool manager sentences Luis Díaz: he announced a final decision on the Colombian

Luis Díaz has Arne Slot's coaching staff delighted. Despite having missed the Carabao Cup quarter-final match, the Colombian striker remains one of the Dutch coach's favourite pieces in the scaffolding.

In fact, Slot has special plans with the Guajiro and announced this at the press conference this Friday, prior to the key match for the leadership visiting Tottenham in London.

The Liverpool coach was asked what options he is considering in the centre forward position and revealed that Díaz is one of those three players who are fighting for the position along with Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota. "The positive thing is that a week ago it was said that Darwin did not have numbers, but then he gives an assist and scores a goal. Jota came in as a midfielder, but he is also a 9. Lucho can play safely in that position and he did well for us,” he said.

The decision to use Luis Díaz as a ‘9’ has to do with the intensity he can offer in pressing and his ability to break free at full speed, a factor that frees up space for lethal players like Mohamed Salah or Cody Gakpo.

This is the first time that the Guajiro is considered a center forward in his entire career. With Junior and Porto he was always a left winger, a position he held during the years in which he played under the orders of the German Jürgen Klopp.

But Slot found the key to get the most out of his qualities and that is why he made the decision to include him among the forwards he has available for the rest of the season. “He played a few times, but not many, at Girona on the left. After Leverkusen, he has played more as a winger, but we have more options. Lucho is definitely also part of that position,” said the Dutchman.

Although Lucho has said publicly that he feels more comfortable close to the line, he has met expectations in his role as a point guard to the point of putting together a trident that is practically already memorized in which Salah attacks on the right, Gakpo on the left and he in the center.

“I don't think I'm asking for new things, but rather that I'm letting them know the same thing: the construction of the game, the last third of the field, the defense, etc. So it's simply about transmitting messages, because it's normal with players (and with my children!) that if you don't tell them things enough, they tend to forget them,” Slot explained.

So far, this change of plans has worked out perfectly for him. Liverpool is leading the Premier League with 36 points (one game less), also leads the table in the Champions League with 18 points and is in the semifinals of the Carabao Cup.

Live on all fronts, the coaching staff will have to handle the loads for a second part of the season that seems exhausting at the level played in Europe. “Repetition is important for a team; maybe the small details are different because football changes, so you have to adapt, but the main message is always the same,” he said.

This Sunday, for example, they play a vital match to maintain their lead in the English league knowing that Chelsea is hot on their heels as the new rival for the title. “We still have Tottenham away from home, matches that, I compare now with Arsenal, they had to play at the beginning of the season. Chelsea already played there, so we don’t look at where you were during the season, but where you are at the end of the season. The best time to judge the campaign is halfway through,” concluded Slot.