Alan Shearer has praised a particular trait of Darwin Nunez and urged the Liverpool striker to “keep” showing it for his club.
The 24-year-old did not score in the 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday, but his relentless work ethic ripped apart the Gunners’ defense and caught the attention of the Premier League’s record goalscorer.
Speaking as an expert for BBC Sport, Shearer said of the Uruguayan (via Liverpool Echo): “The only thing I like about him is that he never shies away; That doesn’t stop him from going in there and he has to continue.
“What also has to continue is that he has to work on his finishing and his numbers have to be better because of the opportunities he has, he wasted too many of them.”
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Núñez has faced plenty of criticism for his finishing ability during his time at Liverpool, and underperforming his xG of 3.6 in the Premier League this season (FBref) indicates that he needs to be more clinical with the opportunities he creates. has.
However, it would be unfair to label him primarily as a waster of scoring positions, as there is still a lot to like about his performance yesterday against Arsenal.
According to Sofascore, he made three clearances and executed two key passes, going close with a chance early in the second half that would have been an impressive goal had it continued. He also worked tirelessly out of possession as he moved to the left wing after the break.
As Shearer says, Núñez is always looking to get into scoring positions, even if his finishing touch is abandoning him. It would be easy for the 24-year-old to become disillusioned and walk away from the ball when things aren’t going his way, but that’s not his style: he constantly wants to be involved in the action.
As Michael Jordan once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” As long as the Uruguayan continues to live by that mantra, he will always have the opportunity to score crucial goals for Liverpool, even if he is not always as clinical as we would like.
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