In the first half he attempted 3 passes. It’s difficult for me to say they were unsuccessful passes because I genuinely don’t know what his thought process was. There wasn’t a single Liverpool player in the direction he attempted the pass. All I can conclude is he sees things that don’t exist.
Darwin Núñez | Liverpool player | Fighter
- Thread starter horsechoker
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Pedestrian is the word.
Don't jinx it guys, he wouldn't be the first Liverpool or Klopp player with a bad start that eventually came good.
Is it true Nunez barely speaks english?
Is it true Nunez barely speaks english?
I think I've posted this 3-4 times in this thread but it's worth reiterating - he's literally never completed 15 passes per game on average at any point in his career. And this includes two seasons at Benfica where they had a significant possession advantage versus most of the league.
I still maintain that he is terrible and that he will never be a top class player. Anyone with half a brain who watched the Portuguese league regularly will agree.
Not sure, but a bigger concern is he barely plays football.
I’m not sure who the buck stops with at Anfield when they decided he was worth the 100m euros they spent on him. But I’d be devastated as a Liverpool fan if pretty much our whole budget was spent on this guy to make him a record signing. Especially when the club rarely spends that big.
No idea, but for the data wizards, scouting 2.0 geniuses and so on, they sure didn't take a look at basic data that was available and showed that :
His link up play is terrible
He was obviously overperforming last season unless you think that he's a better finisher than prime Messi and Ronaldo.
I thought he’s movement was excellent today, the chances will always be there, he needs to work on his finishing, but saying that some were decent saves today. He could have easily had a hatrick
And especially when someone like Nkunku was potentially available who'd be a far better fit into their system. I've been completely befuddled by this deal from day 1 - it's made no sense from both a valuation and a fit perspective.
I think there was an element of panic in the signing. Liverpool had just lost Mane who some would argue their most important component in attack. It was a big change after years of being one of the best attacks.
Along with us being linked with him heavily, Liverpool seemed to act fast to get the signing done. It really does feel like it was off the back of just one good season.
He was on the end of a couple of chances at least but he looks nowhere near worth what we've paid for him. His lack of basic ability on the ball is alarming. Should've scored in the first half.
I wouldn't start him against Arsenal personally but I'm hesitant to play a midfield three against them considering how utterly horrendous our midfield has been this season.
I wouldn't start him against Arsenal personally but I'm hesitant to play a midfield three against them considering how utterly horrendous our midfield has been this season.
It was interesting to hear on BT that it was the first time Klopp has changed formation to use a 4231 since 2020. He’s obviously trying something different to change the fortunes.
I know it will never happen in a million years because Klopp won’t do it, but I think Liverpool have players that would be amazing in a 523 formation utilising 2 of the best wing backs and 3 centre backs who are all comfortable on the ball and stepping out with it. It would be so well balanced. I think it would actually solidify them at the back as well and an opportunity to steady the ship.
I’d go with something like
Alisson
Trent
Matip
VVD
Konate
Robertson
Fabinho
Thiago
Carvalho (cam)
Salah (ST)
Diaz (ST)
If Nunez was actually performing he would have been a good partner with Salah up front.
This might even benefit Nunez with Trent allowed to just spam crosses and not worry about always being caught out behind him (added protection)
I think he played well. I don't know if one could talk about bad luck, but is not like he missed clear chances, those were half chances. First touch, link-up play and passing need to improve, but he has other qualities. His movement in the box looking for space is excellent. I think he just need to calm down. Players don't need to be perfect or best in the world to be useful and help a team to win things.
I don't like a back three/five. If it's done by a manager who knows and prefers it then it's fine but for a manager like Klopp to do it seems like desperation to me. Managers fall back on a back five or three CB's then none of their other ideas have worked.
I'd personally go 4-4-2:
Alisson
Gomez/Ramsey
Van Dijk
Konate/Matip
Robertson
TAA
Henderson/Fabinho
Thiago
Diaz
Salah
Jota/Firmino/Nunez
I think that can easily become a back five if needed with Gomez tucking in, or a three in midfield with TAA tucking in to the right side of the center. Removes the defensive responsibility from Alexander-Arnold, gets a two-man pivot in midfield which is needed and brings Salah central where he can have more of an opportunity to get in on goal. Salah's been nullified as a goal threat this season which is daft because he's been our top scorer for several years now. Nunez would be better with someone up front with him imo.
He's feckin shite. I'd rather have Lukaku leading the line.
You did.
Yes, we did.
Yeah he was actually ok tonight.
Not sure if he’ll come good, but eventually stats revert to mean.
Forgetting his link up play or ball control.
He consistently gets a high volume of shots off in the box. Historically speaking in terms of XG that’s a good sign.
Now whether it’ll be good enough for titles and such is another question. But the goals will come.
What does XG means? I have seen it mentioned a lot but don’t understand the term. Also not idea how it translates to Spanish (if at all).
About Donkey Núñez, he is crap. Lacks link up game, doesn’t know how to make a correct pass, can’t score. Were people really comparing him to Halaand? It’s like comparing Maguire to prime Vidic or prime Puyol!
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I noticed something to that effect. I've always thought he had issues shooting a ball that wasn't bouncing
To be fair, half of it is just laughs and smiles
I don't know, I kinda feel that this frontline would be too lightweight to work properly, may work better with a proper classical no9 upfront than those 2.
He's not a natural finisher though, and movement is the easiest thing to coach into a player so you'd hope it's not the shining attribute of a 100m striker unless we are talking Cavani or someone with a freakish eye for space (and we aren't)
Very unfair and based purely on his face and the way he plays football, but he looks thick as mince.
Why do you need some lumbering 9 though? Chelsea won the CL with basically that exact setup. They aren't going to just hoof balls for Salah to win headers on.
You make a decent point but considering how much pool seem to rely on crosses I think a proper no9 who could hold up play to be a safer bet.
Nunez looks like shit to me but my god his second stint at Chelsea has got to be the worst transfer off all time easily. 97.5 million for a player everyone knew was shit and a flat track bully. Still can't get my head around how Roman thought it'd be wise to bring back a player everyone knew was a donkey in football boots.
It was a terrifically bad transfer. However, we cut our losses on him at the first opportunity so overall there's a big hit on our books but we only had to suffer with him playing for us for a year. If Nunez ends up a similar flop (that's a big IF as of now) then I'm not sure Liverpool would look to get rid and replace him with a better option after just a year.
Basically, when a chance comes to a player, the xG (expected goals) is the probability that the player will finish it. Each chance is scored between 0 and 1. A score of 0.99 would be where the ball comes to you 1 yard out, no goalkeeper, you're almost certain to score. A score of 0.01 would be where the player shoots from a ridiculous position, you're very unlikely to score. You can add up all the xG at the end of the game and get an overall figure for the team.
Essentially its a better version of shots on target/shots off target. Shots on target means very little, because an open goal and a long ranger both count as one shot. xG factors in the quality of the shot.
Not sure if you mean Spanish language or Spanish football. In terms of Spanish language, no difference at all (apart from saying 0,99 instead of 0.99 I suppose)
On Spanish TV I notice they show it live on the screen but as a percentage. So it will show "33%" as the chance the player would score it. Same principle.
finishing can be worked on though? Salah is a prime example, when he was at Chelsea he was an average finisher at best, then he turned it on in serie a and turned it to a whole new level when he returned back in the premier league
Agreed. And he doesn't have the luxury of standing in one place and waiting for KDB and Cancelo's magic balls to appear in front of him.
Their fandom will reach a whole new level of insufferable when he starts banging them in.
Fair point - he's at 2.3 shots in the box per 90 for his career and 0.6 goals from those shots per 90 in his career. So yes, you'd expect him to improve finishing-wise if nowhere else.
The fundamental issue though is that Liverpool under Klopp have never really struggled due to a lack of finishing. Feels to me like adding such a colossal negative in terms of build-up play in exchange for someone who might be but probably isn't actually a better finisher than Mane is a bizarre decision.
If I’m being fair and transparent he actually played decent yesterday. Got into some good positions and made some good runs. Mcgregor had a super game or Darwin could have at least scored one.
The new tactical set up seemed to help him….or maybe it was just rangers…
The new tactical set up seemed to help him….or maybe it was just rangers…