Girona was another disappointing night for Liverpool's No.9
Liverpool invested big in Darwin Nunez. Now time is surely running out for him to prove his worth.
This is Nunez’s third season at Anfield since his club record £85m move from Benfica. But Tuesday night’s clash with Girona was another example of why it is not working out for him. Certainly so far.
Of course, there have been moments and his relentless work rate has made him a cult hero. There's love of the madness from the Anfield crowd, who regularly chant his name. He has scored goals. It's 36 in 115. Hardly barren.
There’s still time for the Uruguayan to show he can deliver more regularly - but the next few months will possibly be crucial for him. If he doesn’t find consistent form in front of goal there’s every chance the Reds will decide to cut their losses next summer.
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Arne Slot was given the challenge of trying to get Nunez to turn into a ruthless finisher. It wasn’t something Jurgen Klopp managed to do. But in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Girona, the worst of Nunez was on display. He missed two very good first-half chances and, as the game progressed, he regressed. His confidence seems low.
“What I can agree on is he missed a few chances and then it is always a question of is he low on confidence or didn’t he have the moment,” said Slot. “Every striker around the ball has a period where every ball goes in and sometimes he has a period when he tries so hard and it doesn’t go in.
“We have other players who can score and Mo [Salah] did today. We would love to see Darwin score because every striker needs goals and that is why I kept him in for such a long time but unfortunately he couldn’t score. The good thing is we have many players who can score, Mo today. I kept him in for quite a long time.
“Yes Alisson made a few saves but if you see the highlights you see we made quite a few chances as well which is normal. What is not normal is that we concede so many [chances].”
Nunez has scored just two Premier League goals this season
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Nunez has had his time in the starting line-up in recent weeks due to Diogo Jota’s injury problems. The Portuguese forward’s struggles to stay fit have given the Uruguayan the opportunity. But he has scored just once in his last 10 appearances. Jota has more goals this season.
Nunez remains somewhat of an enigma. There have been times this season when his team-mates have been guilty of missing his runs or not finding the decisive pass when he is in a good position. That has to be taken into context.
Other players - even Mo Salah - have missed more chances in the Premier League than Nunez but they score enough to mask the goals squandered.
Slot's team are charging on this season without a No.9 regularly finding the net but will Nunez's position come under more scrutiny should Salah slow up?
The difference for the Uruguayan forward under Slot than Klopp is, he prospered more in the more high-octane style of the German. While under Slot, there is more structure to the build-up play which means Nunez has to be more rigid in how he plays. That’s taking a bit of the maverick out of him.
That’s no criticism of Slot or Nunez. Slot has his style and, my word, is it working. Liverpool are absolutely flying. While if Nunez takes his chances like the ones he got on Tuesday night, then it would look the perfect fit.
But unless he starts scoring regularly, then Liverpool may have to think about replacing him next summer.
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