Luis Diaz would be forgiven for football being long from his mind last Christmas. After a few months in which his parents were kidnapped in his native Colombia and his father was held captive for more than a week, being together with family was undoubtedly the only real consideration.
The festive period, though, proved something of a turning point in Diaz’s Anfield career. And as he prepares to celebrate another Christmas, his two goals in the thrilling 6-3 Premier League win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon was a reminder of the huge contribution the winger has provided during the last 12 months.
Up until the Boxing Day trip to Burnley last year, Diaz had scored four goals in the campaign but hadn’t provided a Premier League assist since the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal in October 2022 during which he suffered a knee injury that ultimately kept him out of action for six months.
That drought, though, ended when he set up Diogo Jota at Turf Moor to clinch a 2-0 triumph, sparking an upturn in form as Diaz accepted the increased responsibility to increase his attacking numbers, particularly given the absence of Mohamed Salah through injury for a significant period during the second half of the campaign.
Diaz developed a propensity for delivering in the biggest games, scoring against Chelsea and Manchester United in the Premier League, at Arsenal in the FA Cup and netting the goal at Fulham in the League Cup semi-final second leg that ultimately booked Liverpool their place at Wembley.
In the final against Chelsea, Diaz was among those who played the full 120 minutes as an injury-hit Reds side battled against the odds to win what proved the final trophy of Jurgen Klopp’s glittering reign.
Diaz, of course, was on a revenge mission of sorts in North London having had a goal in the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham last season fail to appear on the scoresheet despite being confirmed by VAR following an unprecedented blunder by the officials. Job done in that regard.
Given Sadio Mane’s positional shift during the final months of his Liverpool career in 2022, Diaz isn’t the first winger to be transformed into a devastatingly effective central attacking force in recent times.
“I think it’s good,” says Gakpo of playing on the left with Diaz inside. “Sometimes he comes to the left and I go in the middle, then we switch again. It has been a good dynamic and we both get in dangerous positions to score.
