In a Liverpool season littered with disappointment, it’s hard not to feel sorry for Diogo Jota.
The Portuguese had enjoyed the campaign of his life in 2021/22 as the Reds went agonisingly close to winning an unprecedented quadruple, scoring an impressive 21 goals along the way. Such form would even earn him a new long-term contract, but injuries would ensure he never had the opportunity to build on such a return in 2022/23.
Joining from Wolves in the summer of 2020, the popular forward has essentially done the unthinkable at Anfield by breaking up the previously untouchable attacking triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane. But his reward for his goalscoring heroics was seeing Jurgen Klopp bring in first Luis Diaz in January 2022, then Darwin Nunez in a potential club-record deal last summer following the departure of the Senegalese.
An untimely hamstring on international duty with Portugal last summer ensured he was playing catch-up on his most recent competition from day one heading into the new season. A set-back suffered in pre-season ensured he would miss the start of the new campaign too.
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And although he’d return as a substitute in early-September, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and subsequent postponed clashes with former club Wolves and Chelsea ensured he had to be patient as he looked to make up for lost time. A Champions League clash with Ajax, where he set up the opener for Salah, at least offered his first start in the interim as Liverpool went a month without Premier League matches.
Further assists would follow in October, against Arsenal before setting up all three of Salah’s goals against Rangers, as the Reds’ rollercoaster start to the campaign continued. And with Diaz suffering a serious knee injury against the Gunners, the stage was Jota’s to make his own.
But just as Liverpool looked to have turned the corner with an impressive 1-0 victory over reigning champions Man City, a game which the Portuguese started in attack, disaster struck. Going down in agony after attempting to play in Nunez in the final minute, he would be stretchered off with Klopp confirming he would miss the upcoming winter World Cup in Qatar as a result.
“After such a good night at Anfield mine ended in the worst way!” he later posted on social media. “In the last minute one of my dreams collapsed. I will be one more supporting from the outside, club and country, and fighting to be back as soon as possible. You'll Never Walk Alone.”
“It’s really not good news about Diogo. Yes, he will miss the World Cup,” Klopp confirmed after beating City. “[It’s a] pretty serious injury in the calf muscle and now the recovery process starts. That’s it pretty much.
“That is the first diagnosis, which was pretty clear, and all the rest will now follow in the next few days. It is very sad news for the boy, and for us as well of course [and] for Portugal.
“[It will have a] big impact. So now we can say that because he will not be in for a long time; we talk about months. So, we will see. I don’t want to put now a number on it because I always hope in the middle of the rehab there is a very positive development and we can cut days off the rehab phase, but it will be long.”
He continued: “It’s Diogo and he’s surprisingly OK, so far. He is an incredibly smart boy and very reflective. I think he knew it when we carried him off the pitch, when I spoke to him for a second.
“When I came out, we passed each other after the game and he explained what happened. I think in that moment he knew already it was a serious one and could be pretty impactful for his World Cup dreams.”
Jota would remain absent until mid-February because of his calf injury. In his absence, Portugal would suffer a shock World Cup quarter-final exit to Morocco, while Liverpool would sign another forward in Cody Gakpo in January.
However, their campaign would also go from bad to worse. Out of both domestic cups, the Reds would be down in 10th in the table, 11 points off the top four by the time of his return - a stark cry from when his goals were helping lead their quadruple charge 12 months earlier.
The Portuguese’s latest return from injury at least coincided with an upturn in Liverpool form. He would come on as a substitute as they clinched back-to-back 2-0 wins over Everton and Newcastle United, before being effectively eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid courtesy of a 5-2 Anfield thrashing.
Starts would follow against Crystal Palace and Wolves, where he set up Virgil van Dijk’s opener, before he was back on the bench against Manchester United. Coming on as a late substitute, he was only utilised forward not to score for the Reds as Salah, Nunez, and Gakpo all netted braces before fellow substitute Firmino wrapped up a famous 7-0 victory.
Now into March, onlookers were starting to notice just how long it had been since Jota last scored for Liverpool. His last strike for the Reds had come away at Man City on April 10, 2022 in what had been touted a title-decider.
In Liverpool’s final game before the March international break, as the Reds trailed 1-0 to AFC Bournemouth, he was thrown on at half-time in an attempt to rescue the game. An Adam Smith handball would deny him a certain goal, with Salah stepping up to miss the subsequent penalty. In hindsight, this loss was the one that proved most fatal to flailing Champions League hopes.
Starting at the Etihad against Man City in Liverpool’s first match after the March international break, Jota would claim another assist as he set up Salah’s opener. But a hefty 4-1 defeat was an unwanted reminder of how far the Reds had fallen over the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese’s goal-drought would stretch over the unwanted year-mark as speculation about his future arose. Yet Klopp kept faith by starting the forward against Chelsea and Arsenal in what would prove to be the start of an 11-game unbeaten run.
Then, away at Leeds United on April 17, 372 days and 32 games since his last goal for Liverpool, everything clicked back into place for Jota. Belatedly.
The forward had actually endured a miserable start at Elland Road, giving the ball away a staggering 15 times in the opening half an hour of the match. Such a statistic would prompt Reds legend Jamie Carragher to joke that the Portuguese should be sold.
"After half an hour I’d sold Jota, I’d got £25million for him, and I was looking around at spending," Carragher said. "I’d maybe get 30 now on the back of this. Listen, he had a really poor first half an hour, and if it had continued at nil-nil until half-time I think Nunez would have come on for him.
"We just see him at that far post, and I must be honest, he’s come back in after being out for a while with injury, and I’m not quite sure why Nunez isn’t playing.”
"15? Wow,” he continued when informed how many times the forward had lost the ball. “Listen, he’s got goals in the past for Liverpool, he’s gone a long time without scoring but it’s just really interesting, for me, the fact that Jurgen Klopp is playing him ahead of Nunez, I can’t quite work that one out.
"The fact that Nunez is new, you want to get him more integrated playing games, I’m not sure, but as I say he’s got two goals and provided an assist, but he had a very tough first half an hour, shall we say."
In the weeks ahead, the 26-year-old would show exactly why Klopp was turning to him ahead of a struggling Nunez as his increase in prominence coincided with the Reds’ return to form.
Jota would end up setting up Salah's first goal of the night before scoring a brace as Liverpool ran out 6-1 winners to silence his doubters in the most emphatic of manners. A further brace then followed five days later in the 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest.
It would seem, for Jota, that goals are like London buses. You wait 53 weeks for one, then four come along at once!
Jota would then deliver one of Liverpool’s highlights of the season later that month, coming off the bench to score a last-minute winner against Tottenham, only 99 seconds after former Everton forward Richarlison had celebrated widely after netting a last-gasp equaliser as Spurs cancelled out the Reds’ early 3-0 lead.
Like the Man City Anfield victory six months earlier, this famous win also ended with a last-minute injury. But rather than Jota being stretchered off, it was his manager, Klopp, who ended up in the wars, pulling his hamstring while celebrating the winner.
A few weeks later, Jota would finish the season in style with a well-taken brace in the crazy 4-4 draw with already-relegated Southampton. Seven goals from his final nine outings would salvage what had been a campaign to forget.
Ultimately, only Salah, Nunez, and Firmino would outscore Jota in 2022/23, despite his limited game-time. With the Uruguayan struggling for form in the final months of the season, while the Portuguese flourished, and the Brazilian now a former Red, his importance at Anfield is crystal clear.
This season might ultimately have been one to forget for Jota and for Liverpool, but he’ll be itching to make up for lost time next year as the Reds look to re-establish themselves as Man City’s closest title-challengers.
End-of-season rating: 6
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