Liverpool star Luis Diaz has revealed what Jurgen Klopp told him is the key aspect that all player’s must do to fit into the DNA at Anfield.
Diaz arrived at Anfield in a £42.3m deal from Porto in the January transfer window and has been a big hit since, with seven goals and five assists in 30 games so far.
He initially arrived to provide competition for Sadio Mane but the Senegalese forward’s move to Bayern Munich this summer means Diaz is now a first name on the team sheet.
The pressure is firmly on him to replace Mane’s output as quickly as possible and the Colombian is already off the mark, securing his first goal of the season in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace earlier this month.
It is not just goals and assists that Diaz will have to replace, though, with Mane’s work rate and suitability to Klopp’s pressing game having been a key part of Liverpool’s success in recent years.
Hard work is very much a key aspect of the system, and Diaz says Klopp makes this clear from day one.
“Jurgen has been unbelievable with me. From the first day I arrived, he gave me a hug, he welcomed me in an unbelievable way,” he told ESPN South America.
“I immediately felt a feeling. It was important for me, I felt his support from the first day, in the work every day I realise that he is a coach who has good things for each of us.
“What he insists on most is that I should play as I have done in previous clubs, that I had already shown him many things, that I should always give my best, that Liverpool’s DNA has always been attitude, to always fight every game to the maximum.
“Tactically I’ve also learnt a bit more. Here I have always tried to go out on the pitch to have fun and play in the same way and to continue like that.”
