Revealed: How Roberto Firmino went from just another failed Brazilian teenager to Liverpool's next big hope

Firmino struggled to stand out among the crowds of talented young Brazilian players, but is now starting to come of age in the Premier League

When he is asked to describe the way that he felt when Jurgen Klopp was appointed Liverpool manager in October, you can see the change in Roberto Firmino’s face and the smile that acknowledges that here was a man who knew exactly what this Brazilian was all about.

The £29m international, signed during the Copa America from under the noses of other interested parties, is starting to come of age in the Premier League and against Newcastle United on Sunday much will be expected of him again. In the anticipated absence of his injured compatriot Philippe Coutinho it is Firmino to whom Liverpool will look creatively to continue the Klopp renaissance.

Liverpool’s new manager knows all about Firmino – in fact there is an argument for saying he knows him better than any other player in the squad he inherited from Brendan Rodgers. Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund faced Firmino’s Hoffenheim nine times in Germany during the Brazilian’s four full seasons at the club, including three games last season with a cup tie in which the latter scored but ended up on the losing side.

The acquisition of the 24-year-old was part of what later convinced Klopp that Liverpool had a squad of players with which he could work and when you see the speed of Firmino’s progress in Germany it is not hard to see why. The boy from the beach city of Maceio in north-east Brazil came to snowy Hoffenheim just a few months after his 19th birthday and was in the first team within three months – way ahead of schedule.

By his third season he was voted the league’s breakthrough player and come last summer, Ian Ayre, the Liverpool chief executive, went to Santiago where the Brazil team were based determined to come back with his signature. Then, when Klopp arrived, the player felt it would have a transformative effect on his own career.

Firmino has excelled far quicker than was expected

“I was really happy,” he says. “I hadn’t really been playing up to that point and he knew me and I knew him. We get on well. He gets on with all the players. He has made a really good impression. The German mentality is really good and it is something that I also have a bit of too.

“I speak German to him but I can understand a lot of English already because I am studying. He’s an excellent coach. He managed Dortmund and has won titles in the Bundesliga, which is very difficult. He has always been really competitive in the Champions League … he’s having an effect already. I think we can achieve things.

“His Dortmund team were difficult to play against. They defended very well and they were good on the ball. I have played against him and scored against Dortmund. I made assists against them. I have good memoires. From now on I hope we can do some of that together.”

We are talking after training at Melwood with the help of the Brazilian journalist Joao Castelo-Branco, ESPN Brazil’s UK correspondent who is teasing Firmino’s life-story out of him. It is, we both agree, the classic Brazilian footballer’s story. His father Jose Roberto was an “ambulante”, a street hawker who would sell drinks from his cart outside concerts and festivals. His mother Maria Cicera looked after young Roberto and his sister and they were, by his own admission, a poor family.

He misses Maceio, one of those north-east Brazilian cities known for its beautiful beaches and, Firmino admits, its gang violence. His story is one of pure sacrifice to play at the highest level. He started off in the youth system of Maceio’s Club De Regatas Brasil, known as CRB, in the second tier of Brazilian football and, via a failed trial at Sao Paulo, moved the length of the country to Figueirense, in Florianopolis, to pursue his dream.

“It was really difficult to leave my family to go south and my mother cried every day. From the moment I left CRB I was away from my family for a year. For a 16-year-old, that’s quite difficult. But that is life. You have to chase your dreams and thankfully I am here today. I went to the youth team at Figueirense first. Then I played for a year and a half in Serie B [the Brazilian championship second tier]. We got promoted and then I went to Germany.

He was also called up by Brazil for the first time last October

“When I was a kid, sometimes mum and dad didn’t really want me to play football. They wanted me to study. Occasionally they would even lock me in at home and I would have to jump the wall at the back to play football! But today I am here, and I am thankful of that. My mum remembers those times. She mentions it sometimes. I tell her it was for a good cause!”

His parents will be over for Christmas, his first without a winter break, and both their faces are inked on the right arm of their son whose tattoos creep up his neck and across his knuckles. He has had to grow up fast, and rattles off the names of people who helped him through the early stages of his career when he struggled to stand out among the crowds of talented young Brazilian players.

His first agent, Dr Marcelo Portela, was also his dentist. His second was the former player Luciano Bilu. At his trial for Sao Paulo he said he barely saw the ball in two weeks and when he was given another chance with a trial at Figurense, he knew he had to take it. “On the first day I scored two overhead kicks. That floored everyone!” he says. “So by Day Two, I knew I was in.”

Jurgen Klopp has revealed himself to be a big fan of the Brazilian

His determination and his ambition, which he refers to more than once in our conversation, is evident. Were there any doubts about joining Hoffenheim? “I thought, ‘I’m definitely going’,” he replies. “I was never scared. I was always very decisive. I knew I wanted to go. I knew it would be hard with the weather and the language and the culture. But I went as a ‘guerreiro’ [a warrior] and overcame the challenge.”

The village team Hoffenheim, from south of Frankfurt, punch way above their weight and it must have been a strange place for a Brazilian kid a long way from home but he stuck it out, even the -15C winters which he says came as a shock. After the World Cup finals, the new Brazil manager Dunga gave him his international debut and he already knew Coutinho by the time Liverpool’s interest became serious.

“He [Coutinho] was very honest with me. He said the weather here – not just Liverpool but England – was not very good. He said it rains all day and now I can see that it really does rain a lot. But he also said the club is like a family, that the players are very nice - and I trusted him on that. I really wanted to come.”

He is here with his wife Larissa, and although there is much that is new, there is also the familiarity of Klopp’s approach. “He has that German pressing game,” Firmino says. “We have taken that and put it into practice already, in just one month. I like his philosophy.”

Liverpool news and transfer rumours: Reds target Stefan Kiessling 'hints at Bayer Leverkusen departure'

Here are all the latest Reds stories from today's Daily Mirror and other news outlets...

Kiessling swoop?

Stefan Kiessling, a reported target of Liverpool, has hinted he may have played his last game for Bayer Leverkusen.

The 31-year-old is being kept out of the team by Javier Hernandez, which could leave the door open for the Reds to swoop in January.

"I’ve got to be honest and say we’ll have to see," Kiessling told Sky Sport Deutschland.

In-form: Javier Hernandez is keeping Kiessling out of Leverkusen's team

"I want to be playing a bit of football at the end of my career and that is why I’ve got to give things good thought.

"I’ll speak to the bosses and see what the best solution is."

Pato interest

Alexandre Pato has stoked up talk of a potential move to Liverpool by admitting he wants to play in the Premier League.

He revealed he has spoken to Brazil teammates and current Reds stars Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino about playing in England.

"One day I would like to come to England because I think the championship [the Premier League] is the No1 in the world," Pato told the Telegraph.

Incoming? Alexandre Pato could be on his way to Anfield

“I don’t think the physical part of English football would be a problem. When you get the ball, you need to be ready. The defenders here are very tough. I like that.

"I have spoken to Willian, Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and David Luiz before. I think Brazilian players can play here."

Klopp snubs Pulis

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp refused to shake hands with Tony Pulis at the end of his side's match with West Brom and admitted they had exchanged words during the game, writes Tyrone Marshall.

The Reds drew 2-2 with West Brom at Anfield in a bad-tempered encounter, which saw Dejan Lovren stretchered off with a knee injury following a tackle from Craig Gardner.

Klopp reacted angrily to the challenge from the Baggies midfielder, but afterwards absolved him of responsibility.

Fuming: Klopp and Pulis didn't shake hands at full-time

But the German didn't shake hands with his opposite number and said he needed time to cool down.

“I don’t have the biggest talent to remember things like this," Klopp said.

"I only talk about football. I wanted to go to my team. Do with this [story] what you want. We had some words in the game and sometimes it takes more than a few seconds to cool down. Usually I shake hands. It was not a friendly game.”

Klopp hails Anfield atmosphere in West Brom draw

Jurgen Klopp said the atmosphere inside Anfield during Liverpool's 2-2 draw with West Brom 'felt like an explosion'.

The Reds boss had called for a 'special atmosphere' before the game and the Kop responded as they raised the roof to try and inspire their side, writes Tyrone Marshall.

“Yesterday we spoke about the special atmosphere, and it was a special atmosphere," he said.

Salute: Klopp and Liverpool's players paid tribute to the supporters

“It felt like three points, I know it's only one. This moment it was like an explosion. It was the best atmosphere since I've been here, I really enjoyed it.

“At the end I just wanted to say thank you, I don't know if this is normal in England or things like this.

“But together with the team it was great. It was absolutely great."

Lovren injury

Dejan Lovren was stretchered off in Liverpool's 2-2 draw with West Brom after a tackle by Craig Gardner that left blood pouring from his knee, writes Tyrone Marshall.

The 26-year-old received treatment on the pitch before being taken off on a stretcher after the incident which happened around 15 minutes from the end of the game at Anfield, with West Brom leading 2-1 at the time.

Crocked: Lovren picked up a nasty looking knee injury

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was furious with Gardner's tackle on the Croatia defender, but referee Craig Pawson took no action against the Albion midfielder.

Lovren was left in a crumpled heap on the floor after the tackle, with blood coming from what looked like a deep cut to the knee.

He only recently regained his place in Klopp's starting XI thanks to an injury to Mamadou Sakho.

West Brom’s McClean: Klopp ‘a bit of an idiot’

LONDON, December 17 – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was branded “a bit of an idiot” by West Bromwich Albion winger James McClean in comments reported by the BBC on Thursday.

Klopp was involved in several fiery exchanges with opposition manager Tony Pulis during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at home to West Brom on Sunday and the pair did not shake hands at the final whistle.

The German also raced down the pitch to celebrate Liverpool’s stoppage-time equaliser and was confronted by a member of West Brom’s coaching staff.

“I’ve got respect for the man because he’s done a great job at (Borussia) Dortmund, but I think he’s a bit of an idiot if I’m being honest,” Republic of Ireland winger McClean, 26, told BBC West Midlands.

“In the game on Sunday … you can’t act that way. Win, lose or draw, you’ve got to be respectful.”

Klopp made a strong start to his time at Anfield, losing only one of his first 11 games, but Liverpool are currently on a run of three games without victory in all competitions.

Editor’s column: Why Liverpool must start choosing these three up top

No Liverpool fan can say for sure who Jurgen Klopp is going to pick up top right now, and this has been an issue for Liverpool ever since Luis Suarez left the club.

In reality though, after looking at the players who’ve started our best performances, the forwards should pick themselves.

Klopp’s consistently used a 4-3-3 or a variation of it, which means one centre-forward and two freer, more flexible playmakers either side. (These two can become inside-forwards, wingers, no.10s, or anything really – depending on what the game demands.) Klopp tried two up top against Southampton with Sturridge and Origi, but with Lallana behind them, it was still a flexible front-three.

While deploying three attackers has been a constant, the names have changed every game, with the German still coming to terms with English football’s hectic schedule.

Even when Daniel Sturridge has been available, the boss could select either the Englishman, Christian Benteke, Divock Origi or Roberto Firmino as the focal point – and all four have started at no.9 under Klopp.

Among fans, there’s no argument as to the first-choice Liverpool striker in an ideal world. Sturridge is a class apart from the rest of our forwards when fit, as displayed by the four goals he’s scored in four 2015/16 starts. But the fact he’s made just the four starts is sadly the more telling statistic. Sturridge simply cannot be relied upon, and his availability should be considered a luxury and not an eventuality. Liverpool need first-choice plans that don’t include Sturridge. We can’t wait any longer.

And in £32.5m summer signing Christian Benteke, Liverpool have the obvious but incorrect choice waiting in the wings. The giant Belgian’s our joint top scorer with five goals and is the second most expensive player in our history – but Klopp should use him on the bench and instead go with the front-three that’s seen Liverpool play our best football under Klopp:

Roberto Firmino at false-9, with Coutinho and Adam Lallana dovetailing behind him.

Our two best performances of the season have come against Chelsea and Manchester away, and in both these matches the above trio has started. Liverpool were not just good, we were sensational. Klopp’s men, with these three interchanging attackers, swarmed the Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge before ripping City apart at the Etihad. In fact, the first-half v City, in which Firmino, Coutinho and Lallana combined mesmerically and bagged three goals, included one of the best 30 minutes of football Liverpool have played in the Premier League era. It was that good.

But just as it had clicked, Klopp was forced change things up, with Coutinho pulling his hamstring against the Sky Blues and missing our next four fixtures.

Without his Brazilian partner in crime, and switched to attacking midfield instead of false-9, Firmino’s lumbered. Badly. The £29m summer signing proved his talent and potential at the Etihad, but has been nothing short of woeful since, and was fairly dropped for the Anfield draw to West Brom on Sunday.

After succeeding in a certain role though, Firmino probably shouldn’t have been moved. Despite his record in Germany from the position, he’s flattered to deceive as a playmaker, but shone at false-9. Klopp’s used him in this position just twice – Liverpool scored seven goals in those two games with Coutinho and Lallana behind him.

But why then have we only see the ‘LFC’ (Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino) on two occasions…? Coutinho’s injury obviously explains some of its absence, but Klopp changed after the Chelsea win as well, bringing Benteke back into the starting XI. We lost that game 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace.

Against Watford, Liverpool need to revert to the attackers who’ve so far bore us the most collective fruit under Klopp. Coutinho and Firmino enhance each other, while Lallana’s intricacy and pressing complements the pair brilliantly. The evidence is clear. The trio tore Chelsea and City apart and need to be given the chance to wreak havoc again, despite Firmino’s poor form in Coutinho’s absence, and despite Benteke’s price-tag.

Benteke and Jordon Ibe provide fantastic options from the bench, and at in-form Watford on Sunday, this is where they should start – enabling our most technically gifted, creative attackers more time together on the pitch. Divock Origi does as well, as shown by his injury-time equaliser at the weekend.

The busy festive period means we can’t go with ‘The LFC‘ every time, of course. Benteke, Origi, Ibe and hopefully Sturridge will get their opportunities – but it’s important to have consistency in attack. A starting XI of Mignolet; Clyne, Sakho, Skrtel, Moreno; Lucas, Can, Henderson; Coutinho, Lallana, Firmino looks very exciting.

When, or perhaps if Sturridge returns to health, we can reopen the debate. But until then, Firmino must start centrally ahead of Benteke – whose lack of pace and movement stifles his team-mates. Coutinho and Lallana need clever runs, one-twos, flicks and a creative spark. Firmino, however poor he’s been recently, provides them. Benteke does not.

Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini share strengths, weaknesses, critics

They are kindred spirits, men in their sixties with a combined 55 years of management between them and plenty of successes along the way. When Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini meet on Monday, they do so as two of the Premier League's elder statesmen. Yet past glory and their status amongst league managers does not spare either criticism. Defeats tend to lead to accusations that each is an impractical idealist who rarely learns the lessons of past setbacks. It is the manner of Arsenal and Manchester City losses, rather than the number of them, that forms part of the case for the prosecution of both. Yet while an examination of their records rather clouds the issue, the main charges against each are similar.

Strangers to silverware

In the days when Jose Mourinho could mock other managers' records, Wenger and Pellegrini were two of his main targets. Each had a golden period either side of the millennium, the Frenchman in England and the Chilean in South America, before a drought as Mourinho entered his prime. Yet each is enjoying something of an Indian Summer. Between them, they swept the board in English football in 2014, when Wenger won the FA Cup and the Community Shield and Pellegrini the Premier League and the Capital One Cup. After a nine-year wait for a trophy, Wenger then retained the FA Cup.

Yet the case for the defence is that it is hard to accuse either of underachieving in their fallow spells. With the exception of a season at Real Madrid, when he secured what was then a club record 96 points, Pellegrini's time was spent at Villarreal and Malaga. He took each further in the Champions League than ever before -- to a semifinal and a quarterfinal respectively -- in an era when Real and Barcelona shared virtually all of the Spanish silverware.

Wenger, meanwhile, is the most consistent manager of all, with 19 consecutive top-four finishes while qualifying from the Champions League's first group stage for a 16th successive season in dramatic fashion in 2015. His spending was limited as he financed the building of the Emirates Stadium and the major honours went the way of clubs with greater purchasing power. Where he was once a winner, he became the greatest damage-limitation expert in football, forever preventing Arsenal from losing their place in the elite in the way Liverpool did, Manchester United did in 2013-14 and, probably, Chelsea will this season.

Accident prone

The sense that Arsenal and City are not ruthless winners is underlined by some of their surprise defeats. Wenger's season has already featured home losses to Olympiakos and West Ham and away defeats at Dinamo Zagreb and Sheffield Wednesday. City have gone out of the FA Cup to Wigan and Middlesbrough in successive seasons. They took one point from a possible six against relegated Burnley last year.

Theo Walcott admitted that Arsenal did not show Monaco enough respect when they lost at home to the French underdogs last season and it is no stretch of the imagination to say complacency was a factor in both clubs' more embarrassing setbacks. It is as though their gifts are so abundant that players and managers alike take victory for granted.

Yet the counter-argument is that every team suffers defeats, including the occasional shock loss. Even when indomitable champions, Chelsea conceded four times at home to League One Bradford in last season's FA Cup. And in between the occasional pratfall, Wenger and Pellegrini are more consistent than is often acknowledged. Arsenal have taken 75 points in 2015, more than anyone else. City have 50 from their last 22 games, a run that began in April when some wondered if they would drop out of the top four and Pellegrini would be sacked.

Manchester City have conceded 16 times in the eight games Vincent Kompany has missed.

Defensive failings

Both managers are essentially attacking. Pellegrini admitted last week he would rather win 4-2 than 1-0 and, even if Wenger has not expressed the same sentiments, he may share them. Both inherited an excellent defence assembled by more dictatorial predecessors, in George Graham and Roberto Mancini. Both now seem to rely on one high-class centre-back, whether Laurent Koscielny or Vincent Kompany, to bring order and organisation, rather than having the structure to succeed regardless.

A tendency to commit too many men forward has been shared and, when Wenger eschewed the use of a proper midfield ball-winner or Pellegrini picked central midfielders who were caught upfield, there have been times when neither defence has been afforded enough protection. Some of their most damning days have come in Europe. Arsenal have conceded 13 goals in their last eight Champions League games while City have one clean sheet in their last 21 continental clashes.

Where they differ, however, is in their domestic records. City have only conceded once in eight league games Kompany has started this season but, despite spending £74 million on Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis, 16 in the eight he has missed. In contrast, Arsenal's excellence dates back almost a year, despite changes of personnel. They have only conceded 24 goals in their last 34 league games. Buying Petr Cech and promoting Nacho Monreal, Hector Bellerin and Francis Coquelin have all been factors. Now Wenger has the more reliable rearguard.

Despite his success at the Etihad, Pellegrini could lose his job in the offseason to Pep Guardiola.

Tactical naivety

There are times when defeats seem familiar. Sometimes Arsenal's players converge infield, allowing opponents to defend the middle of the pitch, rather than stretching it, and seem to seek the perfect goal, rather than any scrappy effort. There are games, and not just against Bayern Munich in Germany, when they fail to protect their fullbacks. There are matches -- think of the 3-1 loss to Monaco -- where they stream forward and get caught on the counter-attack. At such points, it feels like history is repeating itself.

City have experienced their own case of déjà vu. Younger, faster opponents have rattled them with a pressing game. It brought 4-1 wins for both Tottenham and Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp used a false nine, Roberto Firmino, against City. It worked, so Stoke's Mark Hughes did the same, with Bojan Krkic. That worked too. Too many of City's European missteps, meanwhile, have come when Yaya Toure is deployed as one of just two central midfielders. On such days, Pellegrini's experience appears irrelevant.

And while the pattern is decidedly mixed, each has progressed in some respects and neither is as passive as caricature suggests. Pellegrini has been weaned off the 4-4-2 that proved so disastrous against Barcelona and Liverpool in the spring. He now plays a more flexible 4-2-3-1. He has experimented with a false nine -- Kevin de Bruyne scored a winner against Sevilla as such -- but also picked the moment to abandon one, with Wilfried Bony coming on as Raheem Sterling switched to the left to score twice against Borussia Monchengladbach last week. The win in Sevilla, with a solid central-midfield trio of Toure, Fernando and Fernandinho, amounted to a savvy European away performance. So, admittedly, did last season's win against Roma, before Pellegrini reverted to 4-4-2 against Barcelona, but as he showed in the Manchester derby stalemate, he can adopt a policy of all-out defence when required.

As for Wenger, he is entitled to argue that 2015 has been a breakthrough year. After years of wretched away results against the contenders, they won away at City in the Premier League and United in the FA Cup. The introduction of Francis Coquelin, giving him a specialist defensive midfielder, was pivotal as Arsenal displayed more nous. That was a seismic switch; while the image is of Wenger simply sending his side out and hoping they out-football the opponents, he is capable of more subtle mid-game moves, such as swapping Walcott and Joel Campbell from their original flanks in Greece last week. It proved an inspired alteration.

One trait both Manuel Pellegrini and Arsene Wenger certainly share is their stubbornness.

Stubbornness

In their different ways, these are two of the most stubborn managers in the league. Perhaps they have to be to remain wedded to their ideas, regardless of what outsiders think. Pellegrini is invariably adamant he will not compromise his style of play. He persists with his particular favourites: Jesus Navas, who made the most appearances of any City player last season, and Martin Demichelis, who weathered an error-prone start to life in England, became their best centre-back between March 2014 and May 2015 and has relapsed this season. It was nevertheless typical that, rather than sending on a youngster, Pellegrini brought on Demichelis in midfield when City were 3-1 up against Championship Hull two weeks ago.

If the Chilean is accused of showing too little faith in youth products, Wenger is often deemed to display too much, sometimes long after they stopped being young. Yet he can argue that for every Abou Diaby, who lasted nine-and-a-half years at Arsenal, there is a Coquelin, summoned from a loan spell to become a cornerstone of the team. Campbell's belated surge to prominence is a reminder why he is reluctant to jettison his many protégés. Arsenal are scarred by those, such as Philippe Senderos and Denilson, who regressed. Yet others have developed, like Aaron Ramsey. Wenger's obstinate reluctance to spend is a further cause of frustration but Olivier Giroud's recent prolific run suggests that, whatever outsiders felt, perhaps he did not need a new striker.

If the accusation is that Wenger and Pellegrini are too stuck in their ways to affect radical change, too purist to show the pragmatic streak required to win trophies, the table suggests otherwise. Their teams aspire to a higher brand of football than Manchester United and Chelsea but Wenger and Pellegrini, despite their imperfections, have outperformed their more defence-orientated managers so far this season

Their sides can exasperate and entertain, they can display destructive and self-destructive streaks. Their flaws may frustrate, but their teams' flair means the probability is that one will be crowned a champion. Monday's meeting will provide an indication which.