Darwin Nunez struggled in Liverpool's win away to Girona
Arne Slot believes Darwin Nunez may be trying too hard to get back among the goals and keep the fans happy.
The Liverpool striker has scored just three goals - two in the Premier League - so far this season. Nunez’s performance against Girona on Tuesday brought a raft of criticism as he missed big chances to put the Reds ahead and then he disappeared out of the game in the second half.
But Liverpool head coach Slot’s real concern is around Nunez putting too much pressure on himself and is not worried about his performances. Slot said: “Maybe it's because the fans support him so much maybe he wants it too much to score that goal for himself and also for the fans because they have been very supportive.
“All our players feel the support of our fans but he is definitely one of them. Mo [Salah] is scoring so many goals he likes the support of the fans but doesn't really need it at the moment but what I like about special fans is they are not only supportive when it is going really well for a player but especially if he needs that support, that is what makes these fans of ours special in my opinion.”
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Ahead of Saturday’s clash with Fulham, Nunez has only scored two Premier League goals while Mo Salah has been carrying much more of a threat with 13 in the league. But Slot is not concerned about the numbers for the Uruguayan forward as he believes he contributes to the team in other ways.
He said: “For me he has impact, if you only look at goals he hasn't scored the amount of goals he wants to score or we want our number nine to score but he does have impact in his work-rate. That's not only for the other team not to create a chance but if we lose the ball he is then aggressive to get the ball back and still create chances.
“He is part of a team who scores a lot of goals and is winning a lot but of course as a number nine you want to score more goals and that is definitely what he wants as well. But until now I am not only judging Mo on his goals, I am not only judging Darwin on his goals, I judge them on work-rate and what they bring to the team and that has been positive until now, except for us and him wanting to score more goals.”
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Nunez has scored just three goals this season ( Image: PA)
What maybe did worry Slot was how Nunez’s head dropped when he missed chances in Tuesday’s Champions League clash. He added: “We all saw they did something with him when he missed a few chances on Tuesday and everyone needs an arm around you, either from a team-mate, the fans or your manger.
“But I also made it clear to him that he is not only judged on the goals he scores, he is also judged on the team performance and he adds something to the team performance as well with his work-rate and how much he does winning the ball back high up the pitch.
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“Yes, I said it before, ideally he would have scored a few goals more. Maybe in a few weeks you will ask me [about] Mo is not scoring any more and Darwin is scoring one goal after another. It is the life of a number nine, sometimes you score, sometimes you don't.
“But what should always be there is work-rate and I think that is what he has, apart from two games: the first one against Las Palmas, I said that to him yesterday, and the last half-hour against Girona wasn't of the standards he should have. That had a lot to do with him being disappointed at missing a few chances.”
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