Arsenal vs Liverpool: Roberto Firmino hopes he and Philippe Coutinho can make the Reds great again

Samba star: Firmino wants to ge as good as his footballing idol Ronaldinho
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Sam Long24 August 2015

Roberto Firmino is hopeful that he and fellow Brazilian Philippe Coutinho can help Liverpool to have a successful season.

The Reds' summer signing is in contention to make his full Premier League debut on Monday night as Liverpool travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal.

The 23-year-old has impressed during two substitute appearances for Brendan Rodgers' side as he closes in on full fitness and the Brazil international is drawing on inspiration from his countryman to make an impact in England's top tier.

"He [Ronaldinho] was a very talented player when I was growing up. He was my main inspiration in football.

"It's hard to be as a good as Ronaldinho and Ronaldo but we're going to do our best, both myself and Philippe Coutinho, to get close to them and be the best players we can be for Brazil."

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Firmino began his career with Figueirense in his homeland but rose to prominence during four years at Hoffenehim in Germany.

The forward's eye-catching form prompted Liverpool to pay £29m for his services this summer and Firmino has admitted that he had to change his style to adapt to the demands of the Bundesliga.

Five questions for Arsene Wenger ahead of Arsenal vs Liverpool

1/5

"I am very proud of being Brazilian but I have completely changed the way I play football because Germany is a tougher, faster game which is more tactical with tighter marking.

"It was a great experience to have a chance to play in Germany for Hoffenheim but I'm very proud to be a Brazilian player. I consider myself hald-Brazilian and half-German on the pitch."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in