Darwin Nunez has started just once for Liverpool since the March international break.
Against Chelsea the Reds ultimately struggled yet the 23-year-old was still his side’s most dangerous attacking threat. As a result, eyebrows were raised at the sight of him being withdrawn after 79 minutes.
Supporters have remained bemused ever since, with Nunez limited to 79 minutes of substitute action against Arsenal, Leeds United, and Nottingham Forest respectively.
Nunez has provided rare joy to Kopites. An unpredictable agent of chaos, it is no surprise that he quickly became a firm fan-favourite.
Make no mistake, when he’s on the pitch he makes things happen in the final third.
it would seem that is no longer enough for Klopp . After a season praising and defending his, at times, under-fire striker, Klopp voiced his frustrations with Nunez last week prior to facing Forest.
Jürgen Klopp
“Darwin is a player with a different skillset to all our other players. That’s good, that’s good,”
“He’s a real handful, he’s a machine, and he will score a lot of goals.
“He’s scored already a decent number of goals. That’s all fine but yes, of course, he is still adapting. His English is still not great, if existing at all. We are working on that massively.
“He has to learn English, that’s how it is. We can translate everything, but in training sessions we cannot have four languages and translate it. It’s a football language so it will help him massively.
“It’s not helpful to go through a difficult debut season for the whole team. How can a striker shine when the whole team is struggling?
That’s not possible but he had super moments for us, absolutely. But was injured in some moments, suspended in other moments. That’s not helpful but it’s no problem at all.”
He continued: “This is a long-term project. I understand that he wants to play desperately from the beginning. That’s all fine. But we have to find for us a way that it works really for us again.
And then we have to fit in the players that we can really use the specific strengths as well. I am completely fine with the situation but I understand that Darwin is not always fine. But it’s not that he smiles in my face when he realises that he will not start. ‘Oh thank you, boss.’
"It’s not like that but it’s absolutely fine. That’s how we have to deal with the situation. When we have five or six players available upfront, I have to make decisions. That’s good. That’s good and that’s how it should be. And then we’ll see. The boys, the door is miles open. The more sessions we have, the more sessions you have to show up.
“He came on (vs Leeds) and was exceptional. He was exceptional. Not only the goal he scored, before that as well. He was absolutely exceptional. It was exactly the right way.
“Everybody who came on was on fire. That’s what we need. We have five games in two weeks and Darwin will start games, definitely.”
Over the past week Klopp has repeatedly stressed the importance for his side to defend from the front. Reading between the lines, this is something the Liverpool management see from Jota but is perhaps lacking from Nunez.
Klopp Stated:
It needs a specific set up that he can play and defend in the centre,” Klopp first said before facing Forest. “That’s how it is. Playing in the centre is not a problem, there he’s a machine.
“Then we have to make sure that we understand as a team. We were not stable for a real long spell in the season. On top of all the problems we have, the boys have to adapt to different defending, a different striker up top as well.”
Yes, we’re happy the boys are there,” he said. “Not only for scoring but we need them for defending. That was a problem in moments this season, that we lost that focus.
“For me that is the first job for the offensive players as well because that gives you stability if you defend as a unit. We don’t need any players waiting in positions for a counter-attack, we need players to defend collectively
it paints an picture explaining exactly why Nunez has found himself on the substitutes’ bench in recent weeks. Together, Klopp's obvious message is hardly sutble.
He has enjoyed an impressive enough first season at Liverpool but goals clearly aren’t everything. Now, as the Reds look to finish the season strongly, Klopp is selecting the familiar in Jota as his side slowly start to rediscover their intensity.
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