How Arne Slot Can Help “Intelligent” Liverpool Player Escape His Purgatory and Turn Him Into One of the World’s Best
The 2024/25 season is set to be a significant one for Diogo Jota. At 27 years old, he is entering his fifth season with Liverpool. Despite his potential to be a key figure for the Reds, a series of injuries since his move to Merseyside have cast him in the role of a luxury player.
No one wishes to be categorized in such a situation.
His frequent injuries make it impossible for him to be anything other than unreliable. Although he has faced a great deal of bad luck, the reality is that in football, availability is as crucial as ability.
Even if he possesses world-class talent, missing 20 games a season makes it challenging to build a team around him or integrate him into the core of the system.
This might explain why his contributions for Liverpool often go unnoticed. His sporadic appearances make it difficult to fully appreciate his abilities or feel excitement about his return, knowing that another injury may be imminent.
Nevertheless, he remains one of the top strikers in the Premier League and one of the most prolific strikers across Europe.
Over his four seasons with the club in the Premier League, he has averaged 0.66 goals per 90 minutes. To illustrate just how impressive this statistic is, consider that Mohamed Salah, one of Liverpool’s most prolific goalscorers, has surpassed this goals per 90 average only twice during his tenure with the team.
The first instance occurred during Salah’s debut season at Anfield, when he achieved a remarkable 0.99 goals per 90 minutes. The second instance was during the 2021/22 season, with an average of 0.75 goals per 90 minutes.
Excluding these two standout seasons, Salah’s goals per 90 average for Liverpool in the Premier League drops to 0.6. It is worth noting that Salah has consistently accumulated around 3,000 minutes in the Premier League each season, whereas Jota has averaged just under 1,500 minutes per season across his four years at Anfield.
Jota’s goals per 90 average translates to the performance of a forward who would score approximately 25 goals per season, excluding penalties. His success is not due to luck; rather, he is known for his dependable ability to generate scoring opportunities.
In terms of non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes, Jota’s average stands at 0.56. This is a figure that Salah has exceeded only twice during his time at Liverpool.
Diogo Jota Injury Woes
It’s important to clarify that Jota is not considered better than Salah. Rather, the aim is to provide context to Jota’s performance by comparing it to the statistics of the club’s top attacker.
Jota’s tenure at Anfield has been fraught with challenges. His situation is unlikely to improve until his injury issues are resolved, a task that is, understandably, easier said than done.
Injury-prone players are not a novel concept, and Jurgen Klopp’s tactical approach may have exacerbated the situation. Liverpool has frequently faced injury crises each season, with expected injuries often occurring.
The frequency of recurring injuries has been concerning. If Slot and his coaching staff can replicate their success from Feyenoord by enhancing player availability, Jota could greatly benefit from the new managerial approach.
While much attention has been on how Slot will optimize Darwin Nunez’s performance, the Dutch coach may also positively impact Jota. Slot praised Jota highly following Liverpool’s pre-season victory over Arsenal.
Slot Lauds for Jota
“I think that helps to have someone who naturally plays in that position. Although Arsenal were man-v-man all over the place, then it helps if you have a striker who is smart and is intelligent, knows when to make the deep runs [and] knows when to hold the ball,” enthused the 45-year-old.
“I think it was him who bounced the ball towards Harvey, where Harvey could give the assist to Mo. It helps to have someone used to this position, especially if you play a team that is man-v-man all over the pitch.”
Slot might be key in helping Jota finally break free from his current purgatory. If he succeeds, the Portuguese forward will finally receive the recognition he deserves.
In other Liverpool news, Tyler Morton Names the “Brilliant” Liverpool Player Who Has Been on “a Different Level” in Pre-season
