One of the more intriguing statements that followed announcements surrounding Arne Slot’s arrival at Liverpool revolved around controversial striker Darwin Nunez.
Following what seemed deemed to be not the most impressive campaign from the Reds’ No.9, there was some degree of speculation over his long-term future at Anfield.
That was very much cleared up by Paul Joyce’s update on X (formerly Twitter) confirming that Jurgen Klopp’s successor had every intention of keeping the Uruguayan on Merseyside..
“Slot is very committed to working through individual plans with players and keeping track of their progress through frequent communication around and away from the training ground,” Andy Jones and Gregg Evans wrote for The Athletic.
“Advice can include working with different specialists, as has been the case with Feyenoord striker Santiago Gimenez, who worked with the medical and performance team to improve his running style. His team-mate Marcus Pedersen, a defender, was taken to a kickboxing gym to increase his aggression on the pitch while midfielder Orkun Kokcu installed a gym in his home and performed specific exercises to improve his explosiveness.”
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The former Penarol hitman registered 31 goal contributions in 54 games (across all competitions) in 2023/24.
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The issue with Darwin Nunez, of course, has very little to do with his running style by comparison. Nor is his level of aggression or explosiveness at fault.
There have been plenty of goal contributions – but just as many missed opportunities wasted by erratic finishing and poor, emotionally-led decision-making in the box.
The only question that remains is what kind of specialist work would help our thrilling frontman thrive on a weekly basis at Liverpool? Is a specialist coach of some sort even required?
As the 25-year-old’s time with Marcelo Bielsa and Uruguay demonstrates to a certain degree, the problem does at least partly revolve around confidence levels. That, without question, took a battering during the prior campaign, with the striker subjected to some horrific abuse online.
Whatever the case, we remain delighted that Arne Slot and his coaching team haven’t given up on Nunez.
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