Liverpool are flying high at the moment, sitting pretty at the top of the Premier league and the Champions League table, but not everyone in red is having a good time.
Darwin Nunez is a bit of a cult hero at Anfield, fans love his work rate, his passion, and his flair of the spectacular, but his inconsistency has become too big a problem to ignore in recent weeks.
Against Newcastle, when the club needed him most, he missed two guilt-edge chances, and his performance against Girona last night in the Champions League wasn't much better.
Liverpool did manage to get the three points thanks to a Mo Salah penalty, but it was a lack lustre performance considering their high standards this season.
Speaking on Premier Sports after the game, former Ireland star Kenny Cunningham gave a pretty cold answer when asked if Nunez was a natural fit at the club.
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"Natural finisher or a fit? Probably neither! No, I don’t think so, it’s a feast or a famine a little bit.
"He’s an interesting one Nunez, I always look at his body language, I never feel he’s entirely happy with his lot at Liverpool. He’s very different to the other forwards, kind of like Jota, Gapko, Diaz, very technical players, enjoy each other’s company, lovely little combinations - he’s a bit of a bull in a China shop.
"And I know that Liverpool supporters love him for it – that kind of physicality, chasing down people, knocking people over, I know he kind of runs the channels, he chips in with his fair share, maybe one goal every three or four games, but I think value for money, 80 million, of those players that I mentioned, I have to say he hasn’t provided it."
Ex-Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given echoed Cunningham's thoughts on the matter, and delivered a damning verdict on his career in red so far.
"Everything he does is a struggle." 🗣️
Kenny Cunningham and @No1shaygiven on Darwin Núñez and if Liverpool should be looking at replacing him with a more consistent number nine 🇺🇾 pic.twitter.com/55ugOs3Bvi
— Premier Sports Ireland (@PremSportsIRL) December 10, 2024
"What I would say, he’s not a natural, everything he does is a struggle, he’s not a natural footballer.
"We looked at the Mo Salah touch and goal before, he had a couple of chances from the corner, he fluffed it, he slices at things.
"People will say fans like him because he works hard for the team – but when you spend 85 million on a player, you want somebody more than a bit of a workhorse, and again, bringing me all the way back around to Mo Salah, they can spend 85 million on a right-sided player in the summer and let Mo Salah go on a free, and you get someone like that who fluffs his chances, not a finisher, not a goalscorer, and everything he does seems a bit of a struggle.
"In the first half, at the kind of start of the clips, he just ran the ball out of play… You know, he was so disappointing against Newcastle and frustrating and a little bit surprised he actually starts tonight."
The presenter then made the point that Salah stated earlier in the week that Nunez was his favourite player to play alongside ever since Roberto Firmino left.
That is high praise from the club's best player, but Given thinks that the striker was trying to give his teammate more encouragement and boost his confidence a little.
"But also when a player’s low on confidence, kind of mentioned as well, you know, it looks like everything’s a struggle at the minute, the likes of Mo Salah speaking highly of you as a team-mate - give him the shout-out, give him a wee pick-me-up as well, because it’s a team game, they’re in it together and when someone’s down like that, your fellow players would like to give him a pick-me-up.
"I think it’s more that, but again, he’s got an opportunity tonight, against a Girona team that we all fancy to get beaten."
Liverpool did go on to beat Girona, but the Uruguay striker did not enjoy his best game, so the pressure will only continue to grow until he can put a string of performances together.
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