Liverpool have put faith in Darwin Nunez to replace the goals and performances of Sadio Mane but Paul Merson believes it could be too much pressure for the 23-year-old.
Writing for Sportskeeda, the 54-year-old said: ‘Relying on Darwin Nunez to come in and hit the ground running immediately like Luis Diaz did is putting too much pressure on the kid, because stuff like that happens once in a blue moon.
‘When you’re competing against a relentless Manchester City side, you’re effectively out of the title race if you start the season slowly, so it’ll be interesting to see how Liverpool cope without Mane’.
It feels very early to be declaring sides in or out of the title race for next season, although the tiny gap between ourselves and Manchester City can (as we know all too well) go down to a single point.
The truth is though, we have Bobby Firmino and Diogo Jota to help an assumed front three of Luis Diaz, Mo Salah and our new Uruguayan signing.
There’s no pressure on Jurgen Klopp to throw our new No.27 in at the deep end straight away and more than enough talent for him to be eased into the squad – thus removing plenty of pressure from his shoulders.
Mane wasn’t a great supply of goals the season before or last season until he was moved from his established position, almost by accident with the signing of Diaz being brought forward.
If Bobby is used more sparingly and strategically, like he ended up being last season, his effectiveness can increase. Jota should continue to improve and it is Diaz’s first full season and you’d imagine we’ll see much more from him (not that he was exactly shabby after his arrival).
If we control and see out games better than we did last season (Brighton home and Brentford away cost us 4 points should we shouldn’t have surrendered), then we don’t necessarily need as many goals.
Ah!!!!! Paul “I love to hear the sound of my own voice, coming out of my backside” Merson. We do not care for for opinion…..douche bag!