05 Dec 2024 00:02:47
Eds - do you see any chance of Liverpool bringing in Marmoush in January? Nunez shocker again and 3 goals all season.
{Ed001's Note - I think it is more likely to be a summer move, if it happens.}
05 Dec 2024 03:10:09
We need a striker, sorry I can’t listen to the nonsense about Nunez, his potential blah blah, he is not good enough, erratic, poor finisher, and not very aware.
He could be the difference between a title or top 3.
05 Dec 2024 07:36:55
If Isaak had been our No9 we’d have been out of sight in the first half. But Nunez wasn’t the only problem. Team was weak all over the park. The need for a CB a striker and another No6 was on show last night. Big January needed to keep this title charge on.
05 Dec 2024 08:17:05
I'm guessing we didn't win last night?
05 Dec 2024 09:05:01
For what it’s worth I thought it was a really exciting and entertaining game. Of course I watched it from the point of view of someone who was hoping to be entertained rather than as a professional scout who had each and every player under the microscope.
05 Dec 2024 10:44:49
Nunez does much more than not score, fortunately. He creates space and draws defenders away from others.
Ask the other players/ coaches who select him.
Im not saying he will be here next season, only that it is not as simple as scoring/ missing chances.
05 Dec 2024 11:07:48
How do you work that out? he's a striker, his job is goals, we can't keep relying on Mo to dig us out.
05 Dec 2024 11:10:20
Vango, the issue with Nunez is he only appears to have these issues in a liverpool shirt. In them other teams and for other managers he seems to play and score.
My opinion is that he just tries too hard for us. Unfortunately we are unable to change that. So we need to change him and get someone that can add the goals to the game.
05 Dec 2024 11:13:03
I love watching Nunez play, he’s so entertaining (and frustrating yes)
I also think a lot of the stick he gets is unfair, yes he plays garbage at times (like last night) and doesn’t score enough but he does create space and chaos in defences and does give his all and then some and the likes of Salah capitalises on this. Firmino used to get the same criticism but he was absolutely vital in unlocking Salah and Mane.
Saying all this, as much as I love watching him there’s definitely better out there if Slot wishes to upgrade. I wouldn’t complain if he was swapped for Isak for example and that’s not just match of the day fever, he’s been great to watch for a while although you would be losing a lot of the creativity for a more clinical striker.
05 Dec 2024 11:20:53
We hardly do anything in the transfer market at the best of times. Hoping we add a 7th forward in January is wishful thinking.
There are lots of big transfer decisions to made in the summer, some with dependencies on what the big 3 contract negotiations yield.
If we do anything in January, it would be more likely to be midfield in my opinion as there are less variables. It is clear Slot doesn't fancy Endo and would like to replace him with another.
05 Dec 2024 11:55:19
I never want to hear a Booby Firmino and Darwin Nunez comparison again. Firmino is absolute levels above Nunez. Nunez just has'nt kicked on and we need to suck it up and try and move him on. If we can get 30mil id be laughing.
05 Dec 2024 12:02:08
We need Marmoush NOW!
05 Dec 2024 10:51:34
Nunez not scoring isn’t the problem, but it is a problem. Isak has a fair amount of injuries, we don’t need another injury prone striker. We do need a CB to fill in when konate is injured as he is injured often. We scored 3 goals last night but conceded 3. We didn’t play great but the defensive side of our game is what cost us.
05 Dec 2024 13:38:04
Nunez is an issue sadly. Love his enthusiasm but sadly in his 3rd season.? . not good enough by a long way. Runs about yes, passing is dreadful, finishing, positioning and temperament not to our standard. We could literally put Harvey Elliot or Endo up front and they would be more useful and score more. We have to bite the bullet, it hasn't worked.
05 Dec 2024 13:54:04
I think that if you were to ask mo in private, he’d probably tell you that he loves playing with Darwin. The two of them and dom have worked really well together on that right hand side, and they show much more synergy than mo and jota. one bad game where we didn’t win and everybody’s calling him useless, I don’t know if he’s the ideal no 9 for us- probably not- but he has played his part in us being number 1 this year, everybody is singling him out like he’s held us back.
05 Dec 2024 14:04:45
Saying Elliott or Endo would be more useful and score more as a number 9, people say the most ridiculous things when they’re overreacting to a draw or loss, give some respect to these lads for evolving their game and to fit this new system (yes, I think Darwin’s role is very noticeably different from last year, but then again jota’s is too) . Darwin hasn’t sulked when sitting on the bench, has a very unique skill set for a number 9 and puts in maximum effort all the time, he might not be with us next year but I will appreciate everything he’s put into improving his game to contribute to the team while with us.
05 Dec 2024 14:05:24
A lot of Darwin haters unloading their built up frustration about not being able to criticise the team of late I see.
We scored 3 goals away from home. The problem last night was not at that end of the pitch. We had 4 defenders who weren't fit enough to start and our backup keeper had his first bad game since coming in to the team. It's not a terrible result. That first half performance was unbelievably dire and to turn it around and nearly win it in the second half was impressive.
If we were City or Arsenal the only thing the media would have been talking about would have been our injury crisis.
05 Dec 2024 14:48:11
Is right, Shipley.
05 Dec 2024 14:48:24
This discussion could go on and on but Nunez is being picked for a reason by Slot.
It reminds me of Dirk Kuyt when he played for us. He was constantly getting slated for not scoring enough goals but his work rate was second to none. By the end of Kuyts time with us he was loved by most if not all of our supporters for the effort he put into the team.
Nunez scares the life out of defenders with his pace and pulls them away to make space for others to shine. I know he is supposed to be our number 9 but all our number 9's have been outscored by our wingers for years now.
I still believe he will mature into a very good striker for us. Nunez just needs to keep up his work rate but take his time when shooting. If he got on the end of Gakpos header yesterday which he was close to we wouldn't be talking about this today.
05 Dec 2024 15:30:59
2 things before you start bashing Darwin. 1st kelleher made a error no biggy he’s saved us with pens and one on ones this last week. 2nd it was a hell of a goal. I thought the team battled for the win. Loved how they kept trying. Now onto Darwin, I see some of you saying we can’t count on him for goals? It’s a team game he does his bit and puts his shift in. More than can be said about everybody’s darling jota, who is probably only fit a 3rd of the season. You can’t affect the results from the couch. The man runs his socks off for 90mins his teamwork has improved dramatically. I will count how many chances he has v the blues and how many chances he helps create. He is part of a front 4 that’s scoring goals and winning games. Top of the league lost 1 drew 2 won the rest. Newcastle can give anybody a game ask Arsenal no shame in the draw. Just the fans bashing a player, spoilt and deluded.
05 Dec 2024 18:37:49
I think Diaz comes in for Nunez on Saturday Scouse john but i agree with the sentiment of your post mate :)
05 Dec 2024 18:49:56
Shipley/ Pelican, facts are clear Darwin seems like a good lad, has bags of energy, that’s it.
He is not prem top 3 standard and way short of it too.
City - Haaland (A beast)
Chelsea - Jackson (Much better than Nunez all round)
Arsenal - Ok maybe they struggle too
Newcastle - Isak (Excellent player)
Villa - Watkins (Very good, improved a lot over last 3 seasons)
Strikers are hard to find (good ones) but Nunez is grim compared to all of the above.
05 Dec 2024 18:50:55
Mbwell77, I would think he's being picked as he's our only fit striker, his only competion are Diaz and Gakpo who both are better on the wing.
Other than that he's only got Djota and the youngsters. and Djota is more often injured than not.
Personally I think you might as well just play a youngster for 30 mins to see how they do.
05 Dec 2024 19:04:32
For me Nunez is not what we need, this isint personal it is based on performance and what we should expect from a title winning No 9. This doesn’t mean he is a terrible player but just not what we need.
There is a big fear that Nunez will leave and go on to score bucket loads for someone else but the best predictor of future performance is past results and unfortunately Nunez has had a number of seasons and not cut the mustard. I read a lot about the work rate of Nunez and the fear he puts in defenders but I’m guessing the same fear is not felt by the goalkeeper.
Let’s be clinical here if we want titles we need top class poachers and goal getters and for me that isint Nunez, it’s not malice, it’s not personal it’s football. When Fabinho’s legs failed him we all wanted him replacing, when Karius couldn’t catch a cold we showed him the exit.
05 Dec 2024 19:46:19
@Mbwell, the reason Nunez is being picked is because Jota is unfit.
As a general comment, at heart, he’s just not good enough to be a CF for a club that aspires to be the best. He has some good qualities but he’s not the full package. It doesn’t make him a bad player or a bad person just not the quality of footballer to get us to where we want to be.
{Ed001's Note - that's not quite true, Jota had been dropped for him before injury.}
05 Dec 2024 20:25:40
DeanW
If that is the case then why not put Diaz up front and centre. He has played through the middle before but Nunez is being picked ahead of him.
We don't see everything that goes on day in day out. It is only my point of view that Nunez can disrupt defenders to make space for others as that is how I see it. I have no idea what Slot is thinking but surely if Nunez was so bad he would get less pitch time.
I think people get hung up on the number on your back, look at Salahs second goal last night he was in the centre of the box when he received the ball not on the wing.
I think with the right service any of our front line can play number 9, we just don't play to the strengths of an old fashioned number 9.
We just have to be thankful that Nunez according to some is the worst of an amazing bunch of attacking talent at the disposal of our club. As I say only my opinion and you are welcome to your own.
06 Dec 2024 00:39:15
If Isak had been our striker, we'd be talking about him in the same way we talk about Jota. good when he plays, WHEN he plays.
06 Dec 2024 01:28:59
It sounded good when I said it quickly Ed01. The underlying truth is neither Jota or Nunez is a good fit for the role they are being asked to play.
06 Dec 2024 01:57:50
If you are going to compare Harland vs Nunez then check out the number of clear cut chances they each miss. For all Nunez weaknesses he doesn’t go missing in big matches - still works his socks off. I’m not blind to his faults but don’t fall into the trap of the pundits who think the sun revolves around Harland. Even that chance that Nunez missed when he slid in at the back post. Pundits will have you believe it was easy but even stretched he couldn’t reach it. Much harder than they would have you believe but it doesn’t fit in with their agenda.
06 Dec 2024 10:09:27
Looks to me like people on here have been playing football manager too much.
Player X isn’t doing enough of Z so replace him with player Y. Easy.
No. Not easy.
The team and the front 4/ 5 is a unit. Not individual players and all have played their part in us being top of the league. Nunez will have bad games, bad spells but during the cause of the season he will also show his worth. He’ll score important goals like he did last season.
He’s part of a unit who all work for each other and replacing him could upset the balance.
I’ve seen him compared to everyone on this thread but you have to understand tactics to compare correctly. Clearly you don’t understand.
He’s constantly compared to Haaland who actually misses many more chances than Nunez. But city play to give Haaland chances. Their wingers stay wide and stretch the pitch to give him space. Our wingers invert so when Nunez gets the ball the fullbacks are tucked in and CBs close together. It’s much harder for a striker in that position.
I even saw shughes say Jackson is better all round than Nunez! My god if that isn’t match of the day fever I don’t know what is! Jackson has been awful in every aspect until about a month ago when he started a decent run of form. But again, Chelsea have wingers in Neto and Madueke who stay wide, get to the byline and put balls in for him to tap in.
Nunez is doing just fine I just wish people would get off his back and let him play his football.
06 Dec 2024 11:00:20
You're not getting it BP. There's a section of fans that need someone to point the finger at any time we don't blow teams off the park. If it wasn't Nunez, it would be someone else. Including our fabled transfer committee.
Nunez is doing what Nunez does, whether that's enough for Slot we won't know until the end of the season, despite what people claim on here.
06 Dec 2024 11:01:08
The best part is we drew. Imagine the meltdown when we get beat.
06 Dec 2024 19:56:37
@Flash, you reckon Kelleher was secretly pleased Nunez was playing against Newcastle?
I honestly don’t think that there are many, if indeed any, Darwin ‘haters’ on the forum. The lad has a number of qualities but he’s not a prolific goalscorer, which is a problem when you are a CF. Personally, I think he might be more useful playing out wide and using his pace running at defenders which seems to be one of his strengths. The trouble with that is we have enough left sided attackers to fill a Crosville (one for the older participants) and the fella who plays on the right is just about the best in the world at what he does.
If you could cross Nunez and Jota and took Nunez’s ability to panic defences and Jota’s goal scoring instincts you’d have the ideal player for the role and we could give him the nickname Bobby.
08 Dec 2024 00:47:55
He’s just not good enough.
We all love a player who puts 100% in every scenario and has a great passion for the team.
But just like Mad Erik Meijer - he’s just not good enough.
He can’t time his runs, I don’t know what his problem is but he just can’t do it. When he does have a good chance to score it’s row z or straight at the keeper. There’s no composure.
He’s had time to get it sorted, he’s one of the few players who hasn’t improved under Slot.
Sorry, Benfica rinsed us on this deal. We bought a dud.