When Jurgen Klopp showed faith in Divock Origi for a Europa League away trip to Borussia Dortmund many Liverpool fans were surprised. But he isn’t worth Klopp’s time anymore.
Origi scored the Reds’ crucial away goal on the night. This was to be the start of an incredible set of performances from the young Belgiun striker. He had increased his shirt size in the time Klopp had been there from hard work in the gym.
Origi looked an absolute nightmare for defenders to deal with. He would run at them with speed and put himself about really effectively when crosses came into the box. However, Funes-Mori stomped on his ankle in the Merseyside derby, and Origi has not been the same since.
A young lad from from France with a fantastic goal to game ratio, a large amount of his performances came from the substitutes bench. But he did not quite live up to his potential when he got the chance to lead the Reds’ attack.
Such characteristics could definitely describe the striker that Rafa Benitez brought to Liverpool as backup for Fernando Torres. His name is David Ngog.
The more Divock Origi plays for Liverpool, the more he seems to remind me of Ngog. Origi has an incredibly poor first touch. He struggles to hold the ball up, and yet again was the worst player on the pitch as Liverpool beat Leicester 2-1 in Hong Kong.
Wes Morgan and Harry McGuire bullied Origi. He seemed to lose the ball almost every time he touched it. I know it is only a pre-season game and we should not read too much into who is starting but many Liverpool fans were probably a bit surprised to see him start.
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When Daniel Sturridge came on in the second half, you could see just how large the gap in quality was. However, his goal to game ratio is very good. There is no denying that. He gets himself into the right place at the right time.
But playing up front for Liverpool involves so much more than that. Players must be creative and, most importantly, they have to hold the ball up. Origi loses the ball far too often when he gets put under pressure. He is letting centre-backs bully him.
Former Liverpool Champions League winner Luis Garcia said that he could see Origi duplicating the form he showed before that injury this season. However, he will not get the minutes at Liverpool. He is arguably the third choice striker behind Firmino and Sturridge.
Yes, Liverpool will have a much busier set of fixtures this season. But, is it beneficial for Origi to sit on the bench and wait so long for these chances? New signing Dom Solanke has an awful lot of potential and it is going to be very interesting to see how that situation develops.
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Realistically, Origi is not good enough to wear the red shirt anymore. It is time he moves on. Liverpool could get around £25-30 million today in the madness that is the transfer market. The club should jump on that and insert a buy-back clause in his contract.
He needs to play more. He needs to get his touch right, and try rediscover that form of one and a half seasons ago. For right now, Divock Origi, you look like David Ngog in disguise.