MICAH’S MOMENTS: Unique Roberto Firmino deserved his moment of joy in front of the Kop

Sometimes the stars align in football and you end up with the kind of special moment Roberto Firmino enjoyed in front of The Kop.

Firmino is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season to look for a new challenge and I’m heartbroken, really. He’s been amazing for eight years; selfless, never seeking attention but being the glue that held everything together in Jurgen Klopp’s attack.

So I was delighted to see him complete the scoring against Manchester United. He couldn’t believe what he was watching as the goals came in, but the one he scored was one of those moments where you can’t feel anything but joy.

The highest compliment I can pay the Brazilian is that he has been so influential since coming from Hoffenheim that he has developed a position known simply as ‘The Firmino Role’; there had been ‘false nines’ before, but it brought a different dimension to it.

Liverpool have revamped their forward line in the last 12 months, with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo joining Diogo Jota and Mo Salah, so they have plenty of options now, but the reality is they will never be able to buy another Firmino.

We can look at United another day, I’m not sure I would have been able to leave home if I had been at the end of the loss like that, but this, for Klopp and Liverpool, was huge. They are not the force they were 12 months ago but, in form, they are still exceptionally dangerous.

They needed to achieve a result like this and in some way it will serve to banish the memory of what happened against Real Madrid.

The whole place will be built on this – the teams fighting for the top four with them will be baffled.

John McGinn is back to how I remember him

John McGinn joined Aston Villa in what was my last year as a footballer. I never got the chance to play a match with him, but I worked with him in training camp and it was immediately clear that he had a lot of talent to go with great technical ability.

He was linked with Manchester United 18 months ago, but suffered a bit of a slump soon after.

I don’t know if it was because of too many coaching changes, but in recent weeks, he’s been like the John McGinn I know and he’s showing what he can do. He was excellent against Crystal Palace.

VAR decisions must be accelerated

Technology is here to stay with football, but let’s never fool ourselves that VAR is perfect.

I saw Southampton score against Leicester at 34:28, but then there were a bunch of mistakes which meant Carlos Alcaraz couldn’t fully celebrate until 36:38.

Decisions must be faster.

Patient Reiss Nelson deserved his moment in the spotlight

I did a job with the FA a couple of years ago which involved doing interviews at St George’s Park. I spent time with the England Under 21 team and one of the guys I dealt with was Reiss Nelson. What an impression he made.

Full of enthusiasm and determination, he knew he had to be patient but was convinced he had the talent.

Such an attitude goes a long way in football and he was rewarded with that nice goal to score Arsenal’s biggest goal of the season. I wish you all the success.

Marco Silva is a true Manager of the Year candidate

Fulham’s quest for a place in Europe sees them take on Brentford tonight and the fact that I am writing those words tells you what an excellent job Marco Silva has done.

I had Fulham relegated at the start of the season and I didn’t think it would be close. What do I know!

Silva has been exceptional and is competing with Mikel Arteta for Manager of the Year.