Topic: Darwin Núñez (Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro)

[jacobs chains]

The problem I have, and it's been growing over the last few months, isn't that I think he's shit etc, it's that I can't see any progression from him. I can't think of a single element of his game play that looks better today than it did the day he arrived. Two seasons with the best coach in the world and here we are.

[Caston]

For the record, I don't have a problem with Nunez being here next season but not as the first choice.

Same here but then does that mean we need to buy? Jota unfortunately is injury prone and can’t be relied on either.

[Bennett]

It's like that finish where he chips a 6-foot-plus keeper. That finish looks world class but if he attempted that finish 10 times in a row how many times does that go in? 5? 6?

If you're lucky. Owen mentioned this at the time and everybody roasted him. "LOL shutup" "Darwizzy!" "Chaos" etc etc. He's right. He makes absolute bonkers decisions in front of goal and now here we are, end of April, and he has less league goals than Chris Wood.

[child-in-time]

I genuinely thought he was subbed off at one point during the second half and I missed it, he was practically invisible.

[ScubaSteve]

Nunez is a confidence player.

Reading articles that he had to stay away from social media whilst at Benfica got me a little anxious before we even signed him. For the price we paid, his mentally needs to be elite and he needs to just prove his worth on the pitch.

A good pre season should help him. If he become more of a predator in front of goal, he could still be on the worlds best

[spider-neil]

The two goals against Newcastle - World class
The chip over a standing keeper - World class

But how many times has Nunez been put through on goal 1 v 1 with the keeper and he has fluffed his lines? I'd rather he missed the impossible world class finishes if it meant he bagged most of his clear cut chances.

[Barryg21]

For the record, I don't have a problem with Nunez being here next season but not as the first choice.

In which case the jokes were right
We have spent 65m on Origis replacement.....

[Barryg21]

I genuinely thought he was subbed off at one point during the second half and I missed it, he was practically invisible.

1st half he was terrible
2nd half service to him was terrible
Issue is his link it play is so patchy, that midfielders dont want to find him if the defence is siting in

[Mister Flip Flop]

Italian clubs are notorious for being stingy. Not a chance anyone is giving us 50m for him. If we sell we are going to have to accept 35-40m at the very top of the scale.

[rocco]

To early to be given up on him , minimum need another season .

[killer-heels]

Nunez is a confidence player.

Reading articles that he had to stay away from social media whilst at Benfica got me a little anxious before we even signed him. For the price we paid, his mentally needs to be elite and he needs to just prove his worth on the pitch.

A good pre season should help him. If he become more of a predator in front of goal, he could still be on the worlds best

The issue Benfica fans had of him was that he was scruffy in his finishing and general play. His general play I feel has improved a great deal which is testament to him.

His finishing has been scruffy but we know he can finish. But has he ever been confident in his 2 years here? Also no matter all the talk about variance and it being fine, those misses must be playing on his mind. He is just blasting every chance he gets.

[Zlen]

To early to be given up on him , minimum need another season .

In theory, yes. Not so much in practice. The problem with this is the new manager is coming in. Keeping Nunez and planning the season with him as our leading number 9 could backfire so badly the poor sod could be sacked on basis of that gamble alone. If he commits to Darwin and fails to get consistent goals out of him - that right there is enough to have a mediocre season. If he considers him a bench option only - we might as well sell. So yes, he could use another year in theory. But in reality he has had a fair chance and will rightly be evaluated by his present contributions.

[killer-heels]

In theory, yes. Not so much in practice. The problem with this is the new manager is coming in. Keeping Nunez and planning the season with him as our leading number 9 could backfire so badly the poor sod could be sacked on basis of that gamble alone. If he commits to Darwin and fails to get consistent goals out of him - that right there is enough to have a mediocre season. If he considers him a bench option only - we might as well sell. So yes, he could use another year in theory. But in reality he has had a fair chance and will rightly be evaluated by his present contributions.

I think he should be given another season but yes if you are a manager coming in then you would be nervous about pinning your hopes on him as your number 9.

[Wool]

Rapidly losing patience with him. My big issue is on the ball he’s almost regressing. When people talk about the attributes that make Nunez elite or potentially elite it’s his physical attributes, his athleticism and not his on the ball ability. Every first touch is almost a slide tackle and he never has any idea of what he’s going to do next when he receives the ball. To use Jota’s goal against Fulham as an example, not once did Jota look up after receiving the ball - he knew exactly what he planned to do. When Nunez receives the ball it’s like his brain is a few seconds behind and he hasn’t made his mind up which makes it easy for him to be handled by defenders.


I’m also not sure what on earth we’re doing in training with him? Almost 2 years now and his finishing is as bad as ever. I’m not hearing any nonsense about variance because finishing is a SKILL. All he does is twat it at goal (and often at the keeper) when he could pick a better shot, go across goal, place it etc. It’s getting to be a massive problem and it’s costing us.

[rocco]

In theory, yes. Not so much in practice. The problem with this is the new manager is coming in. Keeping Nunez and planning the season with him as our leading number 9 could backfire so badly the poor sod could be sacked on basis of that gamble alone. If he commits to Darwin and fails to get consistent goals out of him - that right there is enough to have a mediocre season. If he considers him a bench option only - we might as well sell. So yes, he could use another year in theory. But in reality he has had a fair chance and will rightly be evaluated by his present contributions.

18 goals and 12 assists ….. if we could bring in someone more clinical or Jota to stay fit ( big ask ) .

I’d still keep him here and see if he can improve with his finishing , offers a lot more than just goals as well

[MonsLibpool]

The issue Benfica fans had of him was that he was scruffy in his finishing and general play. His general play I feel has improved a great deal which is testament to him.

His finishing has been scruffy but we know he can finish. But has he ever been confident in his 2 years here? Also no matter all the talk about variance and it being fine, those misses must be playing on his mind. He is just blasting every chance he gets.

It's not confidence but a lack of fundamentals such as:
1. Composure
2. Consistent first touch
3. Offside awareness (nowhere near good enough)
4. Chaotic decision making
5. Not great in the air either and he tends to miscue a lot of headers.

He's had 2 solid seasons and that's enough to judge.

[Knight]

The problem is that if Nunez doesn't score enough goals/ contribute enough you also have problems with Salah (extremely similar productivity this season to Nunez when you take out penalties), Diaz and Gapkp (who have worse production). Jota is better but then he's injured loads and that's not much good. So basically if there are question marks over Nunez there are similar sized ones, or bigger ones, over every one of our forwards. Which might well be right. But at least be consistent.

[Wool]

The problem is that if Nunez doesn't score enough goals/ contribute enough you also have problems with Salah (extremely similar productivity this season to Nunez when you take out penalties), Diaz and Gapkp (who have worse production). Jota is better but then he's injured loads and that's not much good. So basically if there are question marks over Nunez there are similar sized ones, or bigger ones, over every one of our forwards. Which might well be right. But at least be consistent.

But everyone actually agrees with this? Or most do at least.

[johnathank]

was just looking at his goals this season, and since September, the highest placed team he’s scored against is Brentford.

[MonsLibpool]

The problem is that if Nunez doesn't score enough goals/ contribute enough you also have problems with Salah (extremely similar productivity this season to Nunez when you take out penalties), Diaz and Gapkp (who have worse production). Jota is better but then he's injured loads and that's not much good. So basically if there are question marks over Nunez there are similar sized ones, or bigger ones, over every one of our forwards. Which might well be right. But at least be consistent.

Nunez is our big money number 9 and he's the one we expect to be carrying us now.

[robertobaggio37]

He's setting himself firmly in the 'what could be' category of footballers. For the price we paid for him and the return he's got us, it's just not very good is it.

[Zlen]

The problem is that if Nunez doesn't score enough goals/ contribute enough you also have problems with Salah (extremely similar productivity this season to Nunez when you take out penalties), Diaz and Gapkp (who have worse production). Jota is better but then he's injured loads and that's not much good. So basically if there are question marks over Nunez there are similar sized ones, or bigger ones, over every one of our forwards. Which might well be right. But at least be consistent.

That's obvious. However the issue with Nunez is that he is entering his prime, while Salah is well beyond it. So basically the question Nunez raises is one of 'can we rely on this guy in the future'. It's the crux of the entire relentless conversation about him - answering that very question. Because future is what we're worried about. When looking at Salah it's really just about when do we let him go to maximise return and not miss out on another year or two of his productivity. Which seems to be now if we're honest. With Nunez it's can we afford the gamble of persisting and miss out on a better option? And for the life of me - I have no idea. But I do think it is the biggest hurdle new manager must overcome. His career at Liverpool will depend on it.

[Clint Eastwood]

Two years with Klopp and he’s still wildly inconsistent and cannot be relied upon. He has his strengths, but I’d rather he started most games on the bench.

[upthereds95]

He has to go in the summer people on here seem to think he will somehow come good eventually. Can anyone name a big money striker who was awful for two years and then suddenly started scoring every week because i cant.

His touch and footballing brain are awful and are not going to improve he is nearly 25 and people act like hes a young kid out the academy.

I wish bobby was still here as he would be getting a game ahead of darwin still, at least he had a good touch and could link play up. Darwin just runs down blind alleys and is offside constantly, i dont get what people see in him.

[Sharado]

The problem I have, and it's been growing over the last few months, isn't that I think he's shit etc, it's that I can't see any progression from him. I can't think of a single element of his game play that looks better today than it did the day he arrived. Two seasons with the best coach in the world and here we are.

Exactly this. Nothings changed and after 2 years under klopp that's not good enough.

[MrButler]

Finally, everyone seems to have noticed. I can't believe it took people this long...!

[Stockholm Syndrome]

There's clearly a player in him, but he is also clearly affected by confidence too much.

I do also think k he has improved this year, and has contributed a lot. But yeah, confidence.

For my worth, I would say that the type of striker he is is absolutely the avenue we should be going down, but can Darwin be relied on.

I think we need to get another young, fast, direct 9 and build a team that suits that role.

Openda would be my choice for that

[Knight]

But everyone actually agrees with this? Or most do at least.

Do they? Ok then. This means we have significant problems because judging by the strength of criticism Nunez is getting in here (when he's probably got the smallest question marks over his head given age, durability and productivity) we need to replace all of them. Nunez is younger than Salah so isn't going to decline, whereas Salah is. He's more robust than Jota so isn't going to be injured as much. And he has better numbers than Diaz and Gapko, which means he's going to contribute more. Given that it seems rather odd to be filling up Nunez's thread with the vitriol he's getting in here because we quite clearly have bigger problems.

Or alternatively most of these comments are emotional outbursts more driven by understandable frustration than good analysis of the quality of our players/ the squad. On balance this seems more likely.

[AndyMuller]

Absolutely shite.

[The G in Gerrard]

Regurgitating Carragher's opinion some of you.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Thing is as well on Bobby still being here, or Gakpo playing the false 9, the issue we have is there isn't enough pace on our wings for it - it becomes flat

Here in lies our major problem - Darwin IS our source of attacking pace, it is just him. And I don't think there are many Salah and Mane's around right now, nevermind Bobby likes to play the false 9 (there is Gakpo but I don't think he plays that role to an elite level which we would need)

What Darwin is is the right option. And if he can get out his own head he would be a fucking monster in the role. But we can't rely on him to do that so I would get another option for that who could be a starter.

[rocco]

He has to go in the summer people on here seem to think he will somehow come good eventually. Can anyone name a big money striker who was awful for two years and then suddenly started scoring every week because i cant.

His touch and footballing brain are awful and are not going to improve he is nearly 25 and people act like hes a young kid out the academy.

I wish bobby was still here as he would be getting a game ahead of darwin still, at least he had a good touch and could link play up. Darwin just runs down blind alleys and is offside constantly, i dont get what people see in him.

18 goals and 12 assists and him causing havoc is what we see in him and then there’s the other side  , worst big conversion rate at 19% in all European leagues so only taking 1 from 5  big chances.

Ditching him already seems wrong imo

[koptommy93]

Can't believe how bad his touch is a lot of the time.

[Dave D]

I just can't see him surviving the spreadsheet cull in the summer. His numbers, the important ones, aren't good enough.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

He is someone I see being top quality of he goes. I don't know if he reaches that here, but I think maybe at a less pressure club or league he scores fucking loads

He may also reach that here though, so I wouldn't be selling.

[QC]

18 goals and 12 assists and him causing havoc is what we see in him and then there’s the other side  , worst big conversion rate at 19% in all European leagues so only taking 1 from 5  big chances.

Ditching him already seems wrong imo

I doubt we'll ditch him outright this summer, but I'll be very surprised if his replacement is not brought in this summer.

It would be pretty reckless to stall the development of the team in the hope Nunez might finally come good in his third season. We have to assume he won't given that he hasn't so far.

[Wool]

Do they? Ok then. This means we have significant problems because judging by the strength of criticism Nunez is getting in here (when he's probably got the smallest question marks over his head given age, durability and productivity) we need to replace all of them. Nunez is younger than Salah so isn't going to decline, whereas Salah is. He's more robust than Jota so isn't going to be injured as much. And he has better numbers than Diaz and Gapko, which means he's going to contribute more. Given that it seems rather odd to be filling up Nunez's thread with the vitriol he's getting in here because we quite clearly have bigger problems.

Or alternatively most of these comments are emotional outbursts more driven by understandable frustration than good analysis of the quality of our players/ the squad. On balance this seems more likely.

You’re using this as some kind of ‘gotcha’ to deflect criticism of Nunez but yes there are question marks over the productivity of Diaz/Gakpo, yes there are question marks over Jota’s reliability, and yes there are question marks over whether age has caught up to Salah. None of that detracts from Nunez’s awful finishing and unreliability in front of goal.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

I just can't see him surviving the spreadsheet cull in the summer. His numbers, the important ones, aren't good enough.

I think that cuts a lot of people out then though - basically only Jota survives that in our attack. Maybe Gakpo as a back up.

Darwin is the only one I can see having potential at being someone who can be a key in our future attack. I am not sure if he will reach that level unfortunately but I think he's the only one who can.

[killer-heels]

He is someone I see being top quality of he goes. I don't know if he reaches that here, but I think maybe at a less pressure club or league he scores fucking loads

He may also reach that here though, so I wouldn't be selling.

The conundrum is the attacking make up. Right now every one of our forwards has a question mark over their heads in some way, shape or form.

He is still our second highest scorer (would be third if Jota could stay fit) and our only forward with real pace in physicality. Id still rather lose players like Diaz and Gakpo over him.

But are you relying on him being first choice? Personally I think we need to sign a really top attacker or two over the summer.

[Bennett]

I doubt we'll ditch him outright this summer, but I'll be very surprised if his replacement is not brought in this summer.

It would be pretty reckless to stall the development of the team in the hope Nunez might finally come good in his third season. We have to assume he won't given that he hasn't so far.

Problem is, he's a precious little soul. So unless you make him your main man, his confidence will be shot to the point there's no use in having him around otherwise. I'd honestly cut our losses on him. It's just not happening for the level we aim to be at.