Luis Díaz: Taking His Game to New Heights under Arne Slot
It has been a nearly flawless start to the season for Liverpool FC. Apart from a 2-2 draw at Arsenal and a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, Liverpool have won each of the 15 matches that they have participated in under new manager Arne Slot, and they are the sole UEFA Champions League team who still have a perfect record. One player who has proven influential in their stellar form is Luis Díaz.
Born in Barrancas, La Guajira, Díaz’s first big break came in 2015 when he was included in Colombia’s 22-man squad for the 2015 Copa Americana de Pueblos Indígenas due to his Wayuu ethnicity. Díaz impressed enough to convince Atlético Junior to sign him, before loaning him out to their farm team Barranquilla, where he was given a dietary plan in order to gain 10 kg.
Bit by bit, Díaz’s slender and potentially malnourished frame turned into an athletic, physically imposing build, with the Colombian winger making a name for himself and attracting the attention of FC Porto, who purchased 80% of his economic rights for a fee of €7 million. After patiently biding his time, Díaz took his game to a new level in the first half of 2021/22, winning the Primeira Liga Forward of the Month award for October, November and December as well as the Player of the Month for October and November.
He excelled with 14 goals and 3 assists in 18 league appearances, setting the foundation for a record-breaking season for Sérgio Conceição’s Porto, who won the league title and the Taça de Portugal. Díaz, however, wasn’t there to celebrate the domestic double — he had already joined Liverpool in the January window. On January 30, 2022, Díaz signed a five-year contract for a reported €45 million with €15 million in bonuses, becoming the latest Colombian player to leave Porto for a lucrative transfer after Radamel Falcao, Jackson Martínez, James Rodríguez and more.
‘Lucho’ didn’t take long to make an impact at Merseyside and helped Liverpool push for a quadruple under Jürgen Klopp, playing the first 97 minutes of a goalless draw vs. Chelsea in the EFL Cup Final, with Liverpool prevailing on penalties. In May, he scored the second goal in a 3-2 away win at Villarreal to secure their spot in the UEFA Champions League Final, before following that up with a Man of the Match performance in the FA Cup Final vs. Chelsea. Whilst they fell to Real Madrid in the CL Final and lost out on the league title to Manchester City, the initial signs were promising for Díaz.
He was able to build on this momentum with four goals and three assists in the opening weeks of the 2022/23 campaign before suffering a knee injury on October 9, 2022, which sidelined him for seven months. Díaz switched from the #23 to the #7 for the 2023/24 season, a campaign that was marred by the events of October 29, 2023, when his parents were kidnapped at a Colombian gas station by armed men on motorcycles — whilst his mother was rescued by police a day later, his father would have to wait 11 days before being liberated.
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It took a while before Díaz was able to mentally recuperate and get back to his best, failing to score in the final nine matches of the campaign as Liverpool’s title charge sputtered out in what would ultimately be a disappointing end to the Jürgen Klopp era. Díaz was rumored to be on the chopping block with the Reds eyeing a summer move for Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon — ultimately, Liverpool would end up keeping the near-entirety of their previous core, with the sole exception of Joël Matip, who departed after the expiry of his contract. The sole new arrival of the season, Federico Chiesa, has played just 78 minutes thus far since arriving from Juventus.
Díaz has taken his game to a new level under Slot, whose arrival has marked the end of an era and the switch to a more possession-based style of play with fluid interchanges of possession, high-intensity pressing and confident and coordinated build-up play. As he approaches his 28th birthday, Díaz is finally showcasing the same consistency and composure that saw him take Portuguese football by storm a mere three years ago.
Alongside Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez, Díaz is proving instrumental in a red-hot attacking unit that has already scored 21 goals in 11 matches. He’s chipped in 5 goals from 2.8 Expected Goals, in stark contrast to last season when he underperformed his xG, scoring 8 goals in the Premier League from 11.88 xG and missing 13 big chances. He’s nearly created as many big chances (3) as last season (5), and he’s also putting in a shift off the ball with 0.3 interceptions per 90 (vs. last season’s 0.08) and 1.1 tackles per 90 (vs. 0.9).
Out of Díaz’s average of 1.6 shots per game, half of them are on target, whilst he’s also completing 1.5 successful dribbles per 90 and winning 3.5 ground duels per 90 with a success rate of 40%. What’s more, he’s proving far more efficient and reliable on the ball, losing possession on just 7.7 occasions in contrast to last season’s average of 10.2. He’s finding the back of the net once every 130 minutes, second only to Salah (121) and well above third-placed Núñez.
Photo: The Athletic
Díaz’s ability to get past players and show off with his quick dribbling and change of pace was never in doubt — the main questions were with regards to his ability to combine those individual skills with regular goal contributions. Slot’s switch to a 4-2-4-1 formation and a far more patient and horizontal build-up style has enabled Díaz to receive the ball in far more advanced positions, where he can appear on the blind-spots of defenders and use either foot to either put in a cross or test the goalkeeper with a well-timed effort.
He excels at sprinting laterally across the pitch to ensure that he remains onside and in a central position to receive a pass, and his in-and-out movement and relentless runs in behind have made him into a superb outlet who can compensate a heavy pass with a controlled touch, bursting past his opponent and charging forward into dangerous goal-scoring areas.
Whilst his dribbling prowess and change of pace have been his biggest assets, he is also more than capable of stopping on a dime and catching his defender by surprise. This allows him to decelerate at a moment’s notice and elude his opponent, who will struggle to remain tight to him, and thus enable him to open up a passing lane or launch a ferocious shot towards goal. It’s this ability to create openings which has made him such a dangerous threat who is capable of progressing the ball into the final third and eating up ample space with his blistering speed.
The best season of Díaz’s career came in 2021/22, when he scored 22 goals and 11 assists in 54 appearances for Porto and Liverpool. Porto’s 4-2-3-1 enabled him the freedom to dribble out wide before putting in a tempting cross or cut back, targeting Mehdi Taremi, Evanilson and Otávio with balls into the middle. The fullbacks pushed forward to provide extra attacking options and giving Díaz the space to cut inside and cross on his right foot, often targeting the far post with an inch-perfect delivery.
We’ve seen these same exact dynamics replicated at Anfield this season, with Andrew Robertson or Kostas Tsimikas pushing forward and enabling Díaz the chance to cut inside and either cross or shoot the ball. His run selection has also been noticeably more intelligent, conserving energy for explosive sprints and preserving his stamina. The Liverpool winger can often be seen within five yards of the touchline, where he can be called into action at a moment’s notice and take advantage.
After scoring six goals and five goals apiece in his first two Liverpool seasons, Díaz’s nearly doubled that in 2023/24 after racking up 13 goals and five assists across 51 appearances. This season, however, Díaz is cruising to the best figures of his Anfield career. He’s already provided 9 goals and 2 assists in 16 appearances for Liverpool, who sit five points clear of Manchester City atop the Premier League table as well as two points clear atop the Champions League table.
Having already taken part in two unsuccessful quadruple pushes under Klopp, Díaz will do well to keep his feet on the ground and refrain from popping any champagne bottles. However, after a summer that saw him lose out on the Copa América title by the thinnest of margins to Argentina, Díaz is hungrier than ever to lift the biggest trophy of his career — be that the Premier League or Champions League — and he looks set to play a vital role for Slot’s Liverpool as they look to continue their sensational start to the campaign.
By: Ogunniyi Abayomi / @Cerebralcardo
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / DeFodi Images