Darwin Nunez he has the same number of Premier League goals as Gabriel Jesus this season but in 600 fewer minutes.
Overall, he has nine goals and two assists in 18 appearances, which is even more impressive when you consider that eight of these games came as a substitute.
He is averaging a goal contribution every 88 minutes of football.
Categorically, it is not a failure. Anyone who suggests otherwise hasn’t really been paying much attention, and it’s great to see.
With Diogo Jota and Luis Díaz injured, we needed Núñez to step up. The truth is that if those two attackers had been available, Nunez might not have started games like the one he did at home to Southampton on Saturday, so while damaging to the team and a contributing factor to our losses against Nottingham Forest and Leeds, his injuries were a blessing in disguise for the Uruguayan.
He has had a good run from the side and is enjoying it, proving to be a goalscorer from the inside-left forward position.
In the long term, the idea is that Nunez will play in the middle, but he has more grass to gallop on from the left and seems to stretch defenses more effectively in this position, as he is always available for a quick forward pass from Andy Robertson. on the left side or whoever is in the center of the field.
No player has ever faced scrutiny and bullying online coming into the Premier League to the degree that Nunez did. There have never been any failed compilations about a player’s pre-season training clips and a few glitches in summer friendlies before Liverpool sign the 23-year-old. The desperation to fail the rivals was stratospheric. So much so, that it was leaked into media outlets who recognized they could get easy clicks and eyeballs from ‘Darwin Núñez = not very good’ content. It also happened to the boy. A lot could be said from his social media posts and his desperation to impress. That desperation led to rash decisions, like the header that got him the red card against Crystal Palace and some of the poor finishes that plagued his early appearances.
But it is already installed. His companions also recognize him.
“Getting to the Premier League, with the price tag on your back, was going to be a heavyweight. It took him a few games to get going, but we all saw in training the player that he is,” Trent Alexander-Arnold told the Echo.
“He’s a proper centre-forward with speed, but he was playing on the wing today, he’s versatile. We saw what he could do and now he has taken a step forward, he is enjoying his football”.
The crowd loves him too. ‘Nunez! Nunez! It is not the most inventive song but it fills Anfield with energy. Everybody knows the words, too. It shows that the forward loves it. The viciousness Núñez received from the outside has strengthened his bond with Liverpool fans.
It is not difficult to love him, because he is a great footballer. Occasionally he doesn’t look especially handsome. He doesn’t control a ball or hit it like Thiago. He hits it, heads it, or reaches out with both legs when a fullback crosses into the box. Works. Physically, he is incredibly gifted. Standing at 6ft 2in, Nunez is the fastest recorded player in Premier League history and probably one of the strongest.
He can hit the ball with both feet and, as mentioned, he’s glorious in the air. We don’t have other players in his mold and with an aging side, we need his youth and speed right now.
There is a feeling that the World Cup actually comes at a bad time for him from a Liverpool perspective, given that he is now a full-fledged starter and forming a great relationship on the pitch with Mo Salah. But starting alongside Luis Suarez on the world stage won’t do him any harm. And if Uruguay is eliminated early, a few weeks in Dubai with Jurgen Klopp and his squad in Liverpool’s ‘second pre-season’ won’t hurt either.
The haters have shut up. You can’t blame them, there’s not much to laugh about anymore. As you learn the language and the league, it will only get better. £85m could end up being a cut.
