Topic: Darwin Núñez (Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro)

[RedBec1993]

The longer we leave him out of the team the longer it will take to bed him jn and the bigger the knock on his confidence. We potentially broke our transfer record for him and he is certainly meant to be the no 1 centreforward and the focal point of our attack.  So let's start using him to do just that - if we cannot be secure at the back due to the weakness of our midfield, compromising our attack isn't going to help us win either.

The games he played against us for Benfica he caused us many problems. He was their focal point of their attack, they played to his strengths. I even said at the game for Benfica at anfield how much of a nuisance he was.

[killer-heels]

The longer we leave him out of the team the longer it will take to bed him jn and the bigger the knock on his confidence. We potentially broke our transfer record for him and he is certainly meant to be the no 1 centreforward and the focal point of our attack.  So let's start using him to do just that - if we cannot be secure at the back due to the weakness of our midfield, compromising our attack isn't going to help us win either.

Sorry but that’s not on really. His confidence isn’t the most important thing, nor is his fee. The most important thing is the team and winning games. Granted we are not doing much of that, but the attack is one area of the field where we have done well and we have options, with some real quality in there.

Both sides of the debate need to calm down. You have on one side people thinking he is shit and swallowing the banter brigade, then you have another who, for all their bravado, are just as affected by the banter brigade and are advocating we focus all our energy into him and sharing videos of him passing a ball or taking a shot that might be fairly routine.

[ThePoolMan]

Sorry but that’s not on really. His confidence isn’t the most important thing, nor is his fee. The most important thing is the team and winning games. Granted we are not doing much of that, but the attack is one area of the field where we have done well and we have options, with some real quality in there.

Both sides of the debate need to calm down. You have on one side people thinking he is shit and swallowing the banter brigade, then you have another who, for all their bravado, are just as affected by the banter brigade and are advocating we focus all our energy into him and sharing videos of him passing a ball or taking a shot that might be fairly routine.

If we cannot keep our defence bolted down, then we have to outscore the other side.  If we give numez enough quality supply, he will definitely score.

[Schmidt]

If we cannot keep our defence bolted down, then we have to outscore the other side.  If we give numez enough quality supply, he will definitely score.

Between them Firmino, Salah and Diaz have 13 goals and 8 assists in 10 games, and on top of that we have Jota back who can be used across the front line and is at the same level as the other three.

The team has problems but the attack isn't one of them, disrupting the one functioning area of the team to bed in a player just because he's new is not something we need to be doing right now. It's a shame he's come in to such a dysfunctional team and I'd love to see him in full flight for us, but right now the best thing to do is keep the attack settled and focus on getting the midfield options sharp and up to speed.

The Rangers games might be a good starting point for him, but equally I can see us starting with the usual options, trying to get into a comfortable position (for once), and then bringing him in for the last 30 or so.

[ThePoolMan]

Between them Firmino, Salah and Diaz have 13 goals and 8 assists in 10 games, and on top of that we have Jota back who can be used across the front line and is at the same level as the other three.

The team has problems but the attack isn't one of them, disrupting the one functioning area of the team to bed in a player just because he's new is not something we need to be doing right now. It's a shame he's come in to such a dysfunctional team and I'd love to see him in full flight for us, but right now the best thing to do is keep the attack settled and focus on getting the midfield options sharp and up to speed.

The Rangers games might be a good starting point for him, but equally I can see us starting with the usual options, trying to get into a comfortable position (for once), and then bringing him in for the last 30 or so.

I agree rhe rangers match is ideal for him as its CL wher he is already comfortable and rangers is not likely to pose as great a challenge as Brighton. Boosting his confidence by netting a goal or two couldn't hurt ...

[Schmidt]

I agree rhe rangers match is ideal for him as its CL wher he is already comfortable and rangers is not likely to pose as great a challenge as Brighton. Boosting his confidence by netting a goal or two couldn't hurt ...

It's ideal but I also wouldn't be totally shocked if he didn't start, you'd expect Ajax/Napoli to do the double over Rangers so we can't risk not doing the same. Starting three of the usual suspects and then bringing on Nunez with the pressure off could be a good way to get him meaningful minutes initially.

[Ghost Town]

But we have an excellent forward in Jota who knows how to play our system. Why is there some rush to integrate a player in an area of the pitch where we are ok and have options?

To me it feels like the criticism is making fans impatient and want to rush him into proving he was worth the money. We have many issues at the moment, the last thing we need is to try a project in attack.

Yep

A lot of people seem to be reacting to rival fans reacting

[groove]

Tbf to him, and it's a really small sample size, he has better expected goals + assist numbers per 90 than Haaland so far. It's just his execution that I worry about. He doesn't strike the ball anywhere near as cleanly as Haaland does.

[ThePoolMan]

Tbf to him, and it's a really small sample size, he has better expected goals + assist numbers per 90 than Haaland so far. It's just his execution that I worry about. He doesn't strike the ball anywhere near as cleanly as Haaland does.

If haaland didn't energe on the scene, nunez would be considered the most promising striker on the continent.  Haaland however is the closest thing to a cybernetic football scoring terminator that we have seen so far. In the toughest football league in the world, he makes football and scoring goals look easy.

[Beninger]

If haaland didn't energe on the scene, nunez would be considered the most promising striker on the continent.  Haaland however is the closest thing to a cybernetic football scoring terminator that we have seen so far. In the toughest football league in the world, he makes football and scoring goals look easy.

On current evidence, haaland is going to be the most devastating striker this league has ever seen. It’s not even close. I don’t think people are doing any favors to Nunez even comparing the two anymore. Nunez will be a good striker for us though.

[jillcwhomever]

On current evidence, haaland is going to be the most devastating striker this league has ever seen. It’s not even close. I don’t think people are doing any favors to Nunez even comparing the two anymore. Nunez will be a good striker for us though.

A pity he chose to go to City then and it's all meaningless then.

[ThePoolMan]

A pity he chose to go to City then and it's all meaningless then.

No it's not meaningless but haaland makes beating city that much more difficult. We already needed to be close to perfect before this season to beat them but the margin for error has shrunk to ever smaller degrees.....

[jillcwhomever]

No it's not meaningless but haaland makes beating city that much more difficult. We already needed to be close to perfect before this season to beat them but the margin for error has shrunk to ever smaller degrees.....

I don't care about that, they are the sport washers having chosen to go there, he has to take the criticism which will come his way, regardless of how many goals he scores.

[mc_red22]

I don't care about that, they are the sport washers having chosen to go there, he has to take the criticism which will come his way, regardless of how many goals he scores.

As if he'll be arsed about a few fans saying shit about him.

[ThePoolMan]

I don't care about that, they are the sport washers having chosen to go there, he has to take the criticism which will come his way, regardless of how many goals he scores.

I don't think that would bother haaland a whit. Nor city for thta matter.   It is qhat it is and we just have to beat them despite the unfairness of the money that is arrayed against us.

[newterp]

I don't care about that, they are the sport washers having chosen to go there, he has to take the criticism which will come his way, regardless of how many goals he scores.

What criticism?

Everyone is falling over themselves to be in line to celebrate him.

No one is criticizing him in any place where it will even be visible to him.

[jillcwhomever]

I don't think that would bother haaland a whit. Nor city for thta matter.   It is qhat it is and we just have to beat them despite the unfairness of the money that is arrayed against us.

You don't seem to get it. There is no competing with it, no team can go on going toe to toe with City and their owners forever. It means whoever the other team is they have to be near perfection every season. How can people achieve that season after season? It is asking the impossible, which is why owners such as disgusting states like theirs should never have been let into our league in the first place.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

I don't care about that, they are the sport washers having chosen to go there, he has to take the criticism which will come his way, regardless of how many goals he scores.

What criticism. No one gives a shit. No one cares. Haaland is becoming the main attraction for the Premier League, from the banter fans and the Fantasy Football Fans, and the FIFA, and the fans who don't really care about football. The type of fans the ESL was aiming for, and to move away from the legacy fans. This year, for most media and fans, Haaland is THE reason, thats it.

As a "legacy fan" the only thing keeping me on to football at the moment is Klopp and going the game with my dad. When Klopp goes I doubt I'll have much real interest left, no real care.

The games becoming something else and Man City and Haaland is the face of it. If you find that disgusting and repugnant, you are best to just leave football entirely. I suspect I will

[Andar]

In his book giveaway video, Ljinders spoke to Nunez and said him and Klopp thought something to the effect that if we ever need a new forward, we must sign Nunez after seeing how much trouble he caused our back line during our CL match.

It seems like a departure from our standard practise of having them go via our recruitment team first before being suggested to Klopp.

Worrying that this appeared to be a gut-reaction type of signing.

[jillcwhomever]

What criticism?

Everyone is falling over themselves to be in line to celebrate him.

No one is criticizing him in any place where it will even be visible to him.

Yes, they are, if you can be bothered looking for it. Miguel Delaney does it so often it amazes me how people can claim no one is showing any criticism of it at all. It is out there if you look for it, I will agree it needs to come from more people, but hopefully that will happen.

[jillcwhomever]

What criticism. No one gives a shit. No one cares. Haaland is becoming the main attraction for the Premier League, from the banter fans and the Fantasy Football Fans, and the FIFA, and the fans who don't really care about football. The type of fans the ESL was aiming for, and to move away from the legacy fans. This year, for most media and fans, Haaland is THE reason, thats it.

As a "legacy fan" the only thing keeping me on to football at the moment is Klopp and going the game with my dad. When Klopp goes I doubt I'll have much real interest left, no real care.

The games becoming something else and Man City and Haaland is the face of it. If you find that disgusting and repugnant, you are best to just leave football entirely. I suspect I will

Yes, they are, if you can be bothered looking for it. Miguel Delaney does it so often it amazes me how people can claim no one is showing any criticism of it at all. It is out there if you look for it, I will agree it needs to come from more people, but hopefully that will happen.

[Beninger]

In his book giveaway video, Ljinders spoke to Nunez and said him and Klopp thought something to the effect that if we ever need a new forward, we must sign Nunez after seeing how much trouble he caused our back line during our CL match.

It seems like a departure from our standard practise of having them go via our recruitment team first before being suggested to Klopp.

Worrying that this appeared to be a gut-reaction type of signing.

It’s possible he gained their interest and then they went and backed it up with other’s eyes and stats. His underlying numbers are apparently very good.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Yes, they are, if you can be bothered looking for it. Miguel Delaney does it so often it amazes me how people can claim no one is showing any criticism of it at all. It is out there if you look for it, I will agree it needs to come from more people, but hopefully that will happen.

Miguel Delany and Liverpool fans are literally the only ones I know who complain, and not even all Liverpool fans at that. In the end it all gets written off as bitterness or cry arsing or hypocrisy not only by City but by near enough all fans.

More people care about fantasy football and FIFA rankings or celebrations and branding, than they do the sport washers.

[jillcwhomever]

Miguel Delany and Liverpool fans are literally the only ones I know who complain, and not even all Liverpool fans at that. In the end it all gets written off as bitterness or cry arsing or hypocrisy not only by City but by near enough all fans.

More people care about fantasy football and FIFA rankings or celebrations and branding, than they do the sport washers.

The whole of football is a mess though. I bet a lot of those who are not bothered support far smaller clubs who probably have little chance of achieving anything at all, such is the gap between clubs at the top and clubs at the bottom. I dare say I might be similar if I followed a club with little chance of achieving anything beyond a half-decent cup run. We at least have a chance of developing due to our time in the CL, but that is pretty much closed to a load of other clubs. It's hardly a surprise that those fans don't really care now, when football has pretty much left them behind anyway. The money in the game is in the hands of those who scare barely need it anyway, agents and players.

[ThePoolMan]

You don't seem to get it. There is no competing with it, no team can go on going toe to toe with City and their owners forever. It means whoever the other team is they have to be near perfection every season. How can people achieve that season after season? It is asking the impossible, which is why owners such as disgusting states like theirs should never have been let into our league in the first place.

That is the standard that we have to shoot at and it is what it is. We have to accept that.  Is it unsustainable? Yes it is and the effort will finally prove to be too much for klopp and it will exhaust him. But the fact that we had gone toe to toe with them and pushed them behind their own limits as they admitted  despite having so much less resources - that was noble in  itself and worth doing.

In the long run though, we have no choice but to find sources of revenue that will bring us into the ballpark to be able to afford to deploy players like haaland. We were never jn the races for a player like him because our financial resources couldn't cope. So the long term solution is to grow our resources to be a giant ourselves.

[ScouserAtHeart]

City aren't going to be this good once Guardiola leaves. They'll still be good of course. Get points totals in the mid-80s rather than the mid-90s.

[Bergersrightwingviews]

On current evidence, haaland is going to be the most devastating striker this league has ever seen. It’s not even close. I don’t think people are doing any favors to Nunez even comparing the two anymore. Nunez will be a good striker for us though.

Exactly. It’s approaching “Jelavic is better than Suarez” levels of delusion now. Haaland is on a different planet at the moment. Hopefully Nunez can start to close the gap soon. 

[Legs]

City aren't going to be this good once Guardiola leaves. They'll still be good of course. Get points totals in the mid-80s rather than the mid-90s.

That is my thinking but what worries me is what are our totals after Klopp goes ?

[Samie]

That is my thinking but what worries me is what are our totals after Klopp goes ?

Why are you presuming we're not going to get a good manager after Klopp goes? You do know we're one of the biggest and most iconic clubs in football right? They'll be queuing up to manage us.

[Ghost Town]

Isn't there a Haaland thread?

[elsewhere]

There's a team called Liverpool in Uruguay league yet this fella played for Penarol.
That's all you have to know to judge his character!

[elsewhere]

Isn't there a Haaland thread?

This has to be the one 

[Legs]

Why are you presuming we're not going to get a good manager after Klopp goes? You do know we're one of the biggest and most iconic clubs in football right? They'll be queuing up to manage us.

Im not saying that am I.

Klopp/Pep hit 90+ im saying it will be hard even for City to hit those numbers after Pep.

We are one of the biggest clubs but we certainly dont act that way in the market.

[mrantarctica]

Tbf to him, and it's a really small sample size, he has better expected goals + assist numbers per 90 than Haaland so far. It's just his execution that I worry about. He doesn't strike the ball anywhere near as cleanly as Haaland does.

Haha what planet are you on 

I don't understand why there's even a comparison other than both players are tall and have longish hair. We paid 85M for him and they paid 60M for Haaland, who was always going to go there after his father was a former player there.

In every way, Haaland is a better player. He is faster, stronger and has ripped up practically every league he has played in. The only time he hasn't scored prolifically was when he was at Molde as a 17 year old, and even then he scored every other game. If you look at his career after Molde, he has scored more than 1 goal every game which is on Ronaldo and Messi level good. He also contributes a significant number of assists. At 22 years old, it's astonishing and likely to be one of the best signings and best players of all time if he carries on the way he has started. Add to that he's playing with a support cast of the likes of KDB, Bernardo Silva and Foden, so its absolutely no surprise that he's flourishing.

Darwin is a athletic and skilful young player who has had 1 excellent season and 1 OK season at a lower level. He has much to do to develop into a world class player, but I think he has the attributes to get there with time and guidance. He's come into a team that is clearly in transition and unbalanced. We have an ageing and unfit midfield, and out of form players all over the pitch, so it's not the easiest time to come and settle into a rhythm and play at top form. This is in contrast to Diaz, who came into a winning team at the height of its powers.

We need to stop with the comparisons. Haaland is a superlative player, but who cares...he plays for someone else. Our players are good players too and hopefully with time and support they will show everyone what our technical staff saw in them. If not, then so be it, they'll move on and someone else will take their place. We are a massive club, so there's always going to be top players playing for us.

[PaulKS]

Tbf to him, and it's a really small sample size, he has better expected goals + assist numbers per 90 than Haaland so far. It's just his execution that I worry about. He doesn't strike the ball anywhere near as cleanly as Haaland does.

Mate let it go

[afc tukrish]

Isn't there a Haaland thread?

It's called The Neverlands...

[I've been a good boy]

The Haaland comparisons are silly. Just because they have a lanky stature, have a pony tail and both arrived this Summer. Only difference is that Darwin is slightly less uglier.

[DelTrotter]

Christ, the Haaland worshipping is bad enough in the general sport forum, any chance we could leave it out of here?

[RedBec1993]

Christ, the Haaland worshipping is bad enough in the general sport forum, any chance we could leave it out of here?

Agreed, let’s keep this about Darwin. He’s our player. Simple as. Tbf I can’t wait to see more of him.

[DelTrotter]

Agreed, let’s keep this about Darwin. He’s our player. Simple as. Tbf I can’t wait to see more of him.

Hopefully he starts in the week though it's difficult with Diogo needing minutes too and Bobby playing well. Not a perfect balance but wouldn't mind seeing Luis, Darwin and Diogo front 3 for this one.