Luis Diaz is loitering with intent, contemplating mischief, a human question mark bursting with endless possibilities.
He is stood nowhere, not quite on the left, certainly not on the right, somewhere middle-adjacent but not in the middle.
Is he behind you? Is he behind me? Is he behind Radu Dragusin? Yes, and he’s just scored. Whoops. Well done boys, good process.
Sixty-two minutes later, Liverpool’s Scarlet Pimpernel collects the ball in his own half, on the left touchline, somewhere for sure, but nowhere dangerous.
He dispatches it, and then begins to float laterally with the casual nonchalance of a Labrador pretending not to have noticed the steaming roast turkey on the countertop.
And then, like the perennially hungry Labrador, he surges. That was Liverpool’s sixth, the fourth Diaz had played a fundamental role in. This was a masterclass in movement and energy, in understanding and manipulating space, in offensive pressing and interplay. Finishing with seven shots, he was both silent killer and blunt instrument.
Diaz’s burgeoning reinvention as a false nine might be Arne Slot’s greatest masterstroke yet, as among his first clear stamps of ownership and originality on a Liverpool side it often appears he is simply maintaining and preening, re-wallpapering the House of Klopp.
But Trent Alexander-Arnold has spoken about Slot’s focus on positioning, on footballing minutiae, micro-tactics, especially when the ball is on the other side of the pitch. Diaz appears another key beneficiary of this sermon.
First against Bayer Leverkusen – where he scored a hat-trick – then against Manchester City and Fulham and now in north London, the Colombian has started centrally for the first occasions in his Liverpool career.
While he’s among the Premier League’s best left-wingers, with five goals in his first five league games under Slot, striker affords him a freedom which clearly suits his roaming heart, and more crucially suits the wider team. This looks like the beginning of a glorious future.
Liverpool’s third was another exhibition of Diaz’s value. Of course, he didn’t touch the ball, or come particularly close, but that spectacularly misses the point. He forced Pedro Porro to make a decision he shouldn’t have, creating an overload for Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai simply by existing.
Interchanging with Cody Gakpo, undoubtedly most comfortable and effective on the left, is a mutual agreement which suits both, further inspiring chaos and triggering uncertainty. For all the intricacies and complexities of modern tactics, there are few moves more disruptive than two players repeatedly alternating positions.
This is especially true when Salah – a predictable genius – is on the right. The variety of Diaz’s positioning and movement, whether dropping deep or lingering in behind, only affords Salah’s brutal directness more space and less resistance.
And then there’s the pressing, here the catalyst in dismantling Ange Postecoglou’s plan from the front. By so effectively trailing Pape Matar Sarr when Spurs had the ball, he forced Dragusin to play long – badly – or Fraser Forster to use his feet – very badly. This off-the-ball work is as selfless as it is invaluable.
Of course, using Diaz centrally might not be as effective against low blocks and smaller teams, but that’s what Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez are for. He is also unlikely to ever become the most reliable finisher, but goals are not the priority in this role.
Diaz the striker provides an option to reliably disrupt fellow top six sides, a ghost for only the fanciest feasts, to ensure Liverpool continue winning the games which separate top four contenders from title challengers.
Not that winning matches has been an issue for Slot. This was his 21st from 25 games, 12 from 16 in the top flight, still just one defeat. Liverpool have scored the joint second-most league goals and conceded the joint-fewest, top the Champions League mega-table and return to the scene of their most recent assault for the Carabao Cup semi-final in January.
Their dominance been so smooth, so simple, that it has almost escaped attention, distracted by the noisy chaos elsewhere.
And yet they remain a side constantly in flux, in search of their next trick, attempting to remain multiple steps and points ahead. Diaz’s central move is just this expert pragmatist’s next ingenious solution. The possibilities remain endless.
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