Let’s be honest: this season has been a tough watch.
From the highs of going for all four and nearly becoming the greatest side in English football history, Liverpool have been very occasionally acceptable, sometimes average and often woeful. It’s the end of the cycle. We’ve all come to accept that now. It was pretty great while it lasted and it will forever be a travesty that this team only ever won one Premier League title – and in front of an empty stadium. Football is cruel, eh? Still, we’ve had it better than nearly everyone and the memories and the moments will live forever.
It’s time for the rebrand, though. Anyone who’s watched Liverpool’s crumbling defence and invisible midfield will recognise that Jurgen Klopp needs new, young, hungry and most importantly, available footballers to climb back to the top of the mountain.
Last summer though, he bought one in Darwin Nunez – an attacker of varying position – from Benfica. Someone who is an oddity in that he’s already part cult-hero, part very good, part very bad and ultimately very confusing. I still don’t know what I’m looking at with the Uruguayan and that’s part of the fun. No other Liverpool player has had his every touch, run and contribution as analysed this season – at least by me and my friends in the pub. Is he Erling Haaland with more pace?! Or is he Andy Carroll?
He’s lots of different things at the same time. What’s frustrating about Nunez is his decision making has been poor. The more time he has, the stranger his choices become. He’ll know they’ve been bad, too – so when another chance comes – you can see the previous mistakes are still in his head. When he’s finishing on instinct he’s scored some beautiful goals, none better than the opener versus Real Madrid last week. It’ll be forgotten about because of what happened after, but he’s scored that Cruyff-like finish twice now this season – having done so on the opening day against Fulham as well.
Nunez also loses the ball when trying to make things happen, but this shouldn’t be considered a weakness. Mo Salah does this all of the time. You want your attackers to play with a freedom of expression and without fear of failure.
Perhaps if there was a stronger base behind the frontline and a midfield who could recycle possession after we lose it in the final third, this would be far less of an issue anyway.
What most endears me to Nunez is his combination of vulnerability and ability. Clearly, the attention, the memes and jokes about him missing chances in pre-season shocked him. He didn’t understand the cruelty of the Twitter brigade and foolishly acknowledged it publicly, giving those who ridiculed him more ammo. Nunez was still emotionally charged and desperate to prove those who doubted him wrong early in the season, getting riled up by Crystal Palace’s Joachim Anderson to the point Nunez head-butted him and received a red-card. We’ve not had a player so emotionally vulnerable for a while. When Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Sadio Mane and any other forward signed under Klopp, they immediately oozed a sense of composure and calmness and fans, both ours and rivals, accepted them as clearly very good early on. It makes the integration easier.
Nunez has been so desperate to prove himself worthy, it’s made it harder for him to do so. And yet, there is a feeling he’s learning from the mistakes. Since his red-card, he’s withdrawn himself from any confrontation with defenders. You get the feeling that was a one-time thing. And at 23, he’s allowed the odd mistake, providing they’re not repeated.
He also works insanely hard. Nunez makes lung-busting runs behind the defence or into the channels all of the time. Often they’re ignored or the players in possession aren’t capable of finding him, but he sprints for the team endlessly. He’s not a natural defender, but since Klopp started using him on the left, he tracks back and provides cover for Andy Robertson. We have actually kept three consecutive Premier League clean-sheets with Nunez in this role – so his inclusion as a wing-forward potentially helps the team’s balance.
Nunez loves being a Liverpool player, too. You see him smile when the crowd chant his name, which they always do. He’s become a favourite of the match-going supporter for his effort and intensity. And in truth, he’s been one of the only Reds consistently providing intensity, even if his end product hasn’t been perfect and sometimes leaves you scratching your head or even laughing.
He’s no sympathy case, though. Why would he be? Multimillionaire, good looking, ripped and 6ft. 2″. Most athletes (or anyone, actually) with these attributes would be arrogant, right? Not Nunez. Humble, quiet and shy. Perhaps more cocksureness would help him, actually, but you get the feeling he’s growing into his role at the club and the city – and with every goal or assist he’s recognising his own worth a little more.
There’s been some bad luck, too. Whenever he’s scored a few goals or is on a good run, a niggling injury occurs. Right before the World Cup, he was flying, but the tournament in Qatar stunted his Liverpool progression – and he currently has a shoulder issue which will keep him out of the Wolves game.
Still, he’s scored 12 goals and got four assists in 1882 minutes. That’s a goal contribution every 117 minutes. He’s also missed a hatful of chances and his xG given the position he gets into is far, far higher than what he’s registered.
Without much to play for this season compared to what we’ve been used to, I’ve become increasingly drawn to Darwin’s story. I want him to play every game and am gutted when he isn’t in the lineup. He’s fun – a likeable guy and potentially an incredible player for us. He’s not a guarantee though. It might not happen. And it’s this uncertainty that makes me root for him even more.
Great write up! Last paragraph sums it up beautifully.