Every time that I see Nunez attack down the right (Salah’s position), he always seems to appear more effective - am I imagining this? I’m sure of it was a natural position for him, the management would have seen it but I seem to always comment that he’s more effective down that side…..maybe it’s because he’s not been very effective anywhere else (in terms of G&A’s)…..I desperately want it to click for the lad but I don’t think it’s going to happen with us.
he's done ok beacuse he has massive pace when we break and we have players who will pass it on and then follow it in. He's done well with assists but i'd like to see how many are on fast break aways and how many are from play when a defence is set. The lads tries hard but folks, the critique by the media is founded in reality. He was 8 yards out again, not set and hacked one over. thats nunez. I don't have a go at him as he does try. He had a chance v utd and v accrington where he could absolutely do no more with the shot from the right side back across. he coudl do no more v spurs i nthe last minute with that heel at goal. At least the keepers worked for their saves. He can count himself a little unlucky at times but he consistently then misses the easier ones. Jota is a natrual socrer as he's in the right positions and doesn't tend to miss the target
He was always far more effective out wide, caused absolute havoc on the left when we first got him but Slot just doesn't want him used there. Very unselfish player in fairness to him, even though the goals have dried up significantly, he'll still look for the right option rather than thinking about his own tally.
Danns is a more natural goal scorer than Nunez. Started the move and then followed up into a position where the ball was likely to be if the keeper made the save and made sure he put the ball into the net. Nunez would either been in the wrong place or got his feet all wrong and missed. We've had hardworking strikers before that weren't prolific, Kyut is the first that comes to mind, but when it came down to it they were composed enough to score the easy chances. Nunez just isn't composed enough and I'm not sure that'll change.
Yes, you are right. Some of nunez positions and runs are bizarre. Kuyt never had the pace bit his numbers in goals and assists were excellent from rw. He could finish. Plus just worked every bit as hard.
Kuyt is an excellent comparison. Like Darwin, sometimes his link-up play was haphazard, and often when deployed as a target man in a 4-5-1 formation you would find the ball coming off him at random angles, usually faster than the ball went to him. But he never gave up and, most importantly, you could guarantee that 9 times out of 10 he'd put the ball in the net from 12 yards and under if he had a chance. To be honest, on the last metric Darwin is 50/50... if that.
I think Darwin gives 100% and we all appreciate that. I would have loved him to become the striker we all hoped he would become, I think that hope has faded unfortunately and sometimes, you just have to accept him for what he is and move on. When you see a striker like Isak at Newcastle, you want someone who can finish more chances than he misses. Isak is a bit injury prone though
I agree with this... I do think he's a bit hot-headed and doesn't think under pressure (which is why he seems to score impossible goals but fails at the easy ones)... but all that said, his best stint with us is when Klopp played him wide (maybe because that put him in fewer high pressure scenarios)... then Klopp seemed to put him back in the middle anyway, and Slot doesn't want to play him there. He's a dynamite talent for someone who will use him right... there doesn't seem to be any indication we're going to use him correctly, so he's never going to live up to his potential with us and always be "nearly there" instead.
Thing is, he isn't a striker. All his best football, back at benfica and before, is from wide on the left.
Neither is Mo, to some degree, and God knows that Salah misses a hateful of chances himself - but his numbers are so overwhelming that converting 40 chances from 160+ opportunities each season (because he makes most of his own and is always in good positions) is a lot more effective than scoring 5 goals from 40 chances a season. Nobody expects Darwin to be a Rush or a Fowler, but a Kuyt or Heighway isn't too much to ask.
I believe that is the point everyone is making. Effort, but lacking the ability to be a goal scorer. Will probably be out in the summer as he hasn't turned out to be what we thought we were buying
Dirk scored 51 goals in 208 games in the PL. Nunes has 22 in 80, so his goals per game is slightly better. His assists per game is almost double Kuyts...
Kuyt and Nunez couldn't be more different. Yeah, they're both forwards and played for Liverpool, but Nunez is pacy, whereas Kuyt was a workhorse. Nunez pretty much focuses on attack (although Slot has him being more cautious than Klopp did)- It wouldn't be unusual to see Kuyt come all the way back to help a full back defend, he was almost played more as a right midfielder at times. Darwin is passionate and hot-headed, Kuyt was calm and collected. Darwin was an expensive star with great expectations on his shoulder... I don't think anyone really expected much from Kuyt when he joined us. But the real reason you can't really compare their stats. Nunez walked into a Liverpool team that was full of stars and a main attraction. Kuyt joined a Liverpool team that was underdogs, trying to turn things around and become big again. When Kuyt was in the team, we were hoping to qualify 4th each season. With Darwin we're hoping to challenge for the title each season. Nunez has better quality around him and so SHOULD be getting more assists and more goals than Kuyt. That said, despite being very different players, I think Darwin and Dirk, to me, are overall about equally valuable in their respective eras. So why is Kuyt lauded as a hero while Darwin is a villain? We expect far more now than we did during the Kuyt era- also Kuyt wasn't nearly as expensive- also when you're being compared to Salah it's far harder to shine than when you're being compared to Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun.
Kurt was effective that's why. He worked and got the goals and assists. Nunez is like a harder working babel. Brain dead and misses most things. But he works. Like a dog for the team.
