• You may have to login or register before you can post and view our exclusive members only forums.
    To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Nunez ... The Enigma

Status
Not open for further replies.

Frogfish

Gone to Redcafe
Member
After all the name calling I was reading this piece on Sky which sort of puts his efforts into a much better perspective. And also hints at what the finished product could become.

His eight touches against City produced three shots and a clear-cut chance. Nunez's recovery of possession and ball-carrying ability was Liverpool's most potent weapon in the closing stages of the showdown against the best team in the world, even if his decision-making did misfire.

The agent of chaos disrupted the standout defence in the division. Nunez's movement, directness and habit of getting into golden scoring positions are crucial tools.


He leads the league for shots, touches in the opposition box, and expected goals (amazing when you consider how little he's played compared to Haaland and Jesus). The 23-year-old's underlying data is not just keeping company and edging Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus, but indicates that if he can add composure, he will generate a contribution as significant as his initial £64m price tag for Liverpool.

skysports-darwin-nunez-liverpool_5935353.jpg


Nunez's 516 minutes across all competitions has been marked with four goals and an assist, which has come in a team trying to reinvent itself and that has struggled for consistency in approach, structure, and system.

Klopp's comment that "Nunez would have scored a couple more goals if he had played in the centre of Man City's attack this season" was an understanding the current iteration of Liverpool has not been the most stable side to acclimatise to.

At Liverpool's training centre the message to him has been clear: drown out the noise of what people say you failed to do or can't do and carry on doing what you're used to (are they referring to 6CM)?

Nunez has been shown how his data compares to the rest of the league's chief finishers, and in a lengthy chat with Klopp and Pep Lijnders, was told the club have no concerns over his form, adjustment, and growth into a key figure in the XI.

Liverpool believe his return to prime self-assurance and end product is just around the corner. Nunez's numbers suggest he is certainly on the right route to being box office - and not just the main character for the fail compilations.
 
Are those fail compilations relatively new (kickstarted by the trend to shit on Maguire) or have they always been a thing?

I saw loads for Harry Maguire and then started seeing some for other players like Nunez.
 
Are those fail compilations relatively new (kickstarted by the trend to shit on Maguire) or have they always been a thing?

I saw loads for Harry Maguire and then started seeing some for other players like Nunez.

They've really picked up pace with tik tok. Imagine the fail compilations for crouch in his first few months with us.

As for Darwin, I love him. He's a high output monster. He's fucking thick, but then brilliant. He's the quintessential gattuso meme in a player.



The one thing that he'll always have, is he fucking tries his little heart out
 
I reckon he’s gonna be boss
Agreed, am not joking guys, but the strikers that excited me most in my lifetime are the one that can run with the ball, beat the men in front, and some crazy shit. To date R9, and Torres are the ones I loved most, but Nunez brings those memories back k, coz he is tall like they were, quick, and strong, and able to take the piss out of opposition defenders. So far he is a chaos creating machine. I get really pissed off when he does not start for us.
 
Yeah, I haven't really warmed up to him yet.
He just finds new ways to piss me off every game.
Thats because he does not do the right thing at the end of the part that gets you horny in the first place. Just think about the shit he caused them in the short time he was on the pitch. Just think.
 
Thats because he does not do the right thing at the end of the part that gets you horny in the first place. Just think about the shit he caused them in the short time he was on the pitch. Just think.
Yeah, I'll give it a thought when he starts doing good more regularly.
 
I'm excited and already enraged about seeing him do some madness tonight. Probably score an overhead and an own goal on the space of 2 minutes
 
He is doing the hard things well and the 'easier' things inconsistently. He is making great runs into space, beating his man, getting opportunities to shoot at a great pace. What he is doing poorly/inconsistently is decision making and finishing. The latter can be taught, the former are often instinct. I'm not worried about him, but I do worry that he may need to evolve his game (or our system) to get the best out of him.
 
He's been frustrating, but I think we knew we were not getting the finished product, despite the high fee. I can't really put my finger on it, but I like him and think he'll score bucket- loads. It's going to take 18 months to 2 years fully get there but it's going to be fun ride.
 
He's been frustrating, but I think we knew we were not getting the finished product, despite the high fee. I can't really put my finger on it, but I like him and think he'll score bucket- loads. It's going to take 18 months to 2 years fully get there but it's going to be fun ride.
It's not gonna take that long, what he is showing right now is enough to suggest he is close to being that 150M striker just watch. If the guy upfront by himself can create his own chances and cause defences nightmares then that alone is worth 100M. I think at the moment in his final decision making is a case of new club and hot headed in that final third and his judgement is gone. He plays to the crowd and is probably caught between the easy pass or just lashing at the ball when he shouldnnot be. It's there in him, it really is.
 
He's got a touch of the Andy Carroll about him but he's fucking rapid and can clearly score a goal.

I feel like we've got a flat track bully up top , something other teams have tried and succeeded with but in recent years we've always gone for manes , Salahs, jotas etc.

It's quite a refreshing change
 
I don't think he is like Cavani now he will calm down, right now I think he is relaxed when he scores, but he needs to understand winning the game is more important. I hate that some of you compare him to ducking Carroll.
 
Seriously guys don' be surprised if this guy gets 20 plus goals by the end of the season, he is so fun to watch. You must all get excited right ? - I can't wait for him to get the ball.
 
Seriously guys don' be surprised if this guy gets 20 plus goals by the end of the season, he is so fun to watch. You must all get excited right ? - I can't wait for him to get the ball.
He seems to be good when he doesn't actually think about what he will do. The goal, the shot saved and the shot onto the post and then as soon as he has to think he just fluffs it, the poor shot from the rebound off the post and weak attempt that was easily saved. We see the good and the bad . Does feel like he could explode on someone soon
 
Seriously guys don' be surprised if this guy gets 20 plus goals by the end of the season, he is so fun to watch. You must all get excited right ? - I can't wait for him to get the ball.
He's going to get 20+ goals alright, but I reckon we'll be more pissy about the 69874 shots he misses
 
Nunez played just 19 minutes yet no Liverpool player had more shots, only Diogo Jota was fouled more often and no player for either team was caught offside on more occasions. He turned a three-on-one counter-attack into a blocked effort and clipped one finish over Ederson yet simultaneously about six yards in front of the net.
Quite why you’d want Nunez to “slow himself down a little bit” and “be a bit more composed” on that showing is a mystery because it was entertainment in its purest, most gripping form.

And on the basis of his performance against West Ham, this is Nunez’s only option. It’s not that he’s all or nothing, neutral or fifth gear. It’s that there is no middle ground. No grey area. Only mayhem and pandemonium. The one variable is whether it pays off or not.

It often didn’t on Wednesday night. An early two-on-two attack fell by the wayside; the puzzle as to what weighting of defenders versus attackers actually benefits Nunez remains unsolved. But then on the quarter-hour mark he evaded his markers and attracted a phenomenal ball from Thiago, letting it bounce once before hammering a first-time shot from wide on the left that required sublime intervention from Lukasz Fabianski.

That was one of the rare situations that genuinely suit his style of finishing. While some go for placement, others favour force and plenty more try a combination of the two depending on circumstance, Nunez again has only one recourse. The best way to describe it is the Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge approach – or more specifically, ‘YOU HAVE ENTERED POWER DRIVE’.

A dropping ball on the run and a backpedalling keeper? Probably fair enough to put your laces through it. An opportunity later on to fire accurately across the keeper and into the far side of the net? Maybe don’t hammer it straight at him. A chance to shoot on the bounce after some good chest control? Sure, smash it with your weak foot against the post. But when the rebound comes straight back to you, it might be an idea to take a touch and a moment to steady yourself instead of trying to channel Paolo Di Canio against Wimbledon.

The secret might be to remove his motor-powered feet from the equation. His winner was a gloriously directed header into the ground and towards Fabianski’s far side after great movement to meet Kostas Tsimikas’ cross. A cool, delicate, intelligent and ultimately far more boring centre-forward exists within the tornado of madness. Hopefully he is deep enough within for us to get the uncut version considerably more often than not.
Before the first half was out, Nunez could be seen pitching in at left-back to ostensibly help out, although it should be noted it created further chaos in a Liverpool defence which stumbled to a second successive clean sheet. West Ham had presentable chances before and after Jarrod Bowen’s penalty miss but the David Moyes Anfield curse should never be underestimated.

By the 57th minute, Nunez was gone and the game was a lesser spectacle for it. A few moments earlier he was put through on goal one last time and was unlucky to see his dainty, intricate and well thought out finish saved.

Only joking. He absolutely sodding leathered his shot well over and into the same stands that would salute him soon after.

https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-gary-neville-liverpool-mayhem-merchant-darwin-nunez-wrong
 
Nunez’s biggest weakness is emotional and mental. It’s like he goes into each game high on adrenaline and dopamine and he doesn’t know how to control them.

The composure will come from maturity and hard work at training. But the talent is evident for all to see.
 
He was great against West Ham. He looks like he will be hard to stop when he gets into his stride.

Hopeful of a peak Fernando Torres mkII.
 
I like him. Diaz has become a little boring and predictable after settling into our system, so I've enjoyed Darwin introduce some unrestrained and exuberant chaos back into our forward line.
 
Seriously guys don' be surprised if this guy gets 20 plus goals by the end of the season, he is so fun to watch. You must all get excited right ? - I can't wait for him to get the ball.
I forecast that as soon as we bought him, simply because has something we have lacked for a while (even with Mane), raw power and 6 yd box finishing prowess (over 50% of his goals come from there).
It's a pity that we went off the boil in that regard this season because if Trent and Robbo were firing those 6 yd box passes across I'm sure he'd be on the end of a few of them !
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom