Tony Cascarino has claimed that Darwin Nunez must become more clinical for Liverpool, otherwise he “won’t survive” at the club.
The Uruguay international was signed by Benfica in the summer in a move worth £64m and although he has scored 10 goals and registered three assists in 26 appearances this season (in all competitions), his finishing ability has been questioned at times.
There’s no denying that the 23-year-old is barefoot and has a brilliant attitude, but with Jurgen Klopp’s side struggling for form and sitting 10th in the Premier League table, a clinical definer is exactly what they need right now.
“Now I know Nunez came in and could possibly be a very good striker,” Cascarino told talkSPORT (via Metro).
“He wants to blow everything up, it’s great if they come in, but a lot of times he keeps hitting the keeper.
“Now finishing is a really difficult skill, and he has to learn that. I have seen Marcus Rashford change as a player facing goal.
“I remember doing a piece about four years ago on Marcus Rashford and he reminded me of Núñez, because of the way he was freeing up, getting into positions, but not clinical.
“And if you are going to be in a top club and not be clinical, you will leave and you will not survive.
“And he is [Rashford] become much more clinical this season. Núñez has to get to that stage of being clinical when he goes one-on-one, but that’s one of the many problems.”
Núñez constantly gets into dangerous positions and causes problems for the opposition defense, but his composure in front of goals is what he lacks most of the time.
The last time he scored a league goal for Liverpool was during our 3-1 loss to Southampton in November and he’s had plenty of chances to do it since.
Our No. 27 is not the only member of Klopp’s team struggling for form, but we urgently need to win again if we are to finish the campaign in the top four.
We are 11 points behind Newcastle United at the moment, who are currently bottom of the Champions League and next for us is the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
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