The real challenge for the Belgian, though, will be this summer when Jurgen Klopp amends the squad he inherited from Brendan Rodgers
“He can light up world football, for sure.”
Joe Allen – unfortunately known as the “Welsh Xavi” ever since Liverpool’s awful Channel 5 documentary – could have warned Divock Origi about the trouble Brendan Rodgers’ new-signing hyperbole can cause.
Had Origi – then just 19 – been anywhere near that standard, he obviously would have joined the Reds from Lille immediately as opposed to spending the 2014/15 season on loan at the club he had just signed from.
Rodgers’ introduction was unhelpful, but the player who starred for Belgium at that summer’s World Cup endured a forgettable campaign and was named in L’Equipe’s worst Ligue 1 team of the year.
Those unremarkable performances – plus Liverpool’s record purchase of his international team-mate Christian Benteke – meant a muted response greeted Origi when he finally arrived at Anfield this season.
Rodgers was clearly less enthused than 12 months earlier, too, affording him few opportunities and criticising him publicly after the striker squandered a couple of presentable chances against Sion in October.
Attempting to transition from expensive teenager to first-team player is hard enough without having to take the flak for the failings of your manager.
Fortunately for Origi, though, the Northern Irishman was soon sacked and replaced by Jurgen Klopp.
The 20-year-old’s progress under the German since then has – aside from the Capital One Cup hat-trick he bagged against Southampton in December – been steady rather than spectacular.
Until last week, that is.
Klopp’s decision to start Origi over Daniel Sturridge against Borussia Dortmund was more tactical than personal, but the performed dutifully and deserved his deflected goal.
That display at the Westfalenstadion felt significant and the Belgian’s follow-up – a two-goal cameo against Stoke where his name was sung by the Kop for the first time – showed he is comfortable in his surroundings.
Origi should be commended for showing the character to be brought in from the periphery – the struggles of countryman Adnan Januzaj at Manchester United shows how difficult that is to do – but his long-term prospects remain uncertain.
The real challenge, of course, will come in the summer when Klopp has his first proper opportunity to make changes to the squad he inherited in the autumn.
Another decisive performance from Origi against Dortmund in the return leg, however, would go some way to ensuring those supporters in the iconic Liverpool end will be able to sing his name for seasons to come.
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