Darwin Nunez endured a rather frustrating night for Liverpool in their 1-0 victory over Girona on Tuesday, with two missed first-half opportunities seeing him scorned by some pundits.
The 25-year-old also came in for some hostile online abuse after the match before genuine Reds supporters intervened to urge the keyboard warriors to get off his back, and the player himself had a strong message for his detractors afrerwards.
Arne Slot jumped to the Uruguayan’s defence in his post-match press conference with a nod towards the ‘threat’ that our number 9 carried with his overall workrate, despite not being able to find the net.
However, as noted by Ian Doyle for the Liverpool Echo, the head coach was seen scolding Nunez during the second half of the game at the Estadi Montilivi.
The journalist observed: “It was one of those evenings for Darwin Nunez, who missed two first-half chances and began to disappear from view completely during the second half.
“During a spell after the break, Nunez dropped deep in an attempt to become involved, prompting Slot to point at the Uruguayan and then to the penalty area as if to tell the striker to get back up front.
“Nunez, though, wasn’t the only player to be given a rebuke from the Liverpool boss, who spent much of the game animated on the touchline in frustration at what he later regarded a performance not up to scratch from his team.”
Nunez was signed from Benfica for £64m in 2022 to offer a sustained goal threat for Liverpool, having terrorised the Reds during a Champions League fixture in April of that year, but a meagre return of three goals in 19 appearances so far this season has been worryingly underwhelming.
It’s not as if he isn’t getting opportunities – his xG underperformance of 1.6 for the campaign so far is the biggest in Slot’s squad, but curiously he has the best shots-on-target percentage out of all our senior forwards with 53.3% (FBref).
That points to the 25-year-old simply not being clincial enough, but the snapshot of the game that Doyle mentioned might also partly explain why the Uruguayan hasn’t been in the goals all that much. As a centre-forward, he ought to be in a position where he can capitalise on the opportunities that his teammates create.
Conversely, if Nunez is dropping deep too much for the head coach’s liking, it’s probably because of a desire to be a team player and try to get on the ball when Liverpool don’t have possession, rather than just ‘goal-hanging’ and waiting for the others to provide him with ammunition.
Our current number 9 hasn’t nailed that deep-lying centre-forward role in the same way that his predecessor Bobby Firmino managed so expertly. For the ex-Benfica marksman, it’s a case of striking the ideal balance between helping out the team and being in the right areas to finish off chances created for him.
Once he has that down, he should hopefully hit an overdue purple patch of form and, just maybe, quieten the increasingly vocal doubters.
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