Colombia manager Néstor Lorenzo has expressed his concern over growing expectations on Liverpool star Luis Díaz to impress for the national team regularly.
La Tricolor will host Uruguay later today in the World Cup qualifiers and in the pre-match press conference, the coach was asked about the 26-year-old’s importance to the national team.
Responding to that, relayed by AS in Colombia, Lorenzo has sent a clear message to the Liverpool forward to not overburden himself with additional responsibilities.
“We don’t have the formula. The first thing we did was tell him that he should not put the team on his shoulders nor that the team’s responsibility weighs on him. People expect him to score 4 goals per game and that’s not normal,” he said.
“His performance has been good and we hope he improves with training and knowledge with his teammates.”
“In football you need partnerships and in two [international breaks] he was injured and missed those games that would have given him a little more rapprochement, but we have confidence in him, in his position and in his role. We don’t want him to be the saviour either.”
“I notice that if he doesn’t score two goals he’s played badly, and that’s not the case. At Liverpool he plays every three days and here every month.”
The South American has scored nine goals and registered one assist from 41 games for his country, out of which only two goals and an assist came since he joined Liverpool in 2022.
Díaz was forced to miss the majority of last season due to a knee injury and returned to the pitch back in April. Since then, he hasn’t missed a single league game for the Reds.
This season, the winger has scored three goals and registered one assist from 10 games for Jürgen Klopp’s side.
The upcoming clash against Uruguay will see the former FC Porto man come up against his Liverpool teammate, Darwin Núñez.
