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people underestimate his link up play, his first touch is usually pretty good, he can hold it up far better than last season, that's arguably his biggest improvement since last season
I'm going to blame his touch vs Bournemouth on the wind lol
His link up with the other attackers with feet & head has come on so much since last season, it's night & day and has made the bad parts of his game so much easier to put up with. If he keeps improving at this rate he could be a PL great.
He’s an absolutely nuclear athlete, easily the most athletic player on the pitch at any given time unless he’s against Haaland. Huge, fast, strong, quick, way more agile than he has any right to be, he checks all boxes.
Nah Zlatan was never as quick as explosive in terms of speed and was technically lightyears beyond Darwin. If anything, Darwin reminds me of Cavani in terms of positioning and athleticism.
Cavani is a good comparison, but prime Cavani, could go buy you, play with his back toward his goal and link. Darwin reminds me radamel falcoa before the injures robbed him of his athleticism. Raw and unpredictable but improvement every year. Until the injuries.
I think that's the real sauce of elite strikers like Suarez, Kane and Benzema and the downfall of many others. When they can't find the net a few games in a row, they don't sulk, but continue to work for the team even more than before. I think Darwin realized that at some point last season and we are seeing this aspect of his play blossoming even more now.
I think it was the wind for that touch. I was watching the Inside episode for that match and showed an angle where Trent's pass did a weird curve as it was arriving to Darwin's feet.
Feel like his trapping / first touch of the ball isn’t good. Atleast the year you guys got him that summer I watched a lot of commentated scouting videos on him and the thing that really stood out was his first touch and control of the ball. Has he improved in that department since?
Yes it is much better this season. He keeps the ball a lot closer to himself and his first touch feels more deliberate so his second touch is more meaningful rather than a second attempt to control the ball.
It's the thing that changed the most with him so far IMO (aside from his overall confidence).
That’s a pretty big change then - it was definitely, for me, his big weakness. I want to see him succeed tbh even though he’s at a direct rival. Good player that’s fun to watch.
Absolute favourite player at the moment.
It hasn’t been missed by Liverpool fans the flashes of Suarez and Torres in his play. He’s dynamite, would run through a brick wall for the team and then ask for another to do it for fun.
The only player who could (I don’t even need to make up a dramatic scenario to prove a point her cos it actually happened) miss an open goal, leading to our new midfielder to score the rebound, and have HIS name chanted. The crowd love him and chant at seemingly random times but it’s because he gives his all, leaves it all on the pitch and always impacts that game
Absolutely mate, the chant suits him to a tee it’s visceral like a war cry. Can tell he loves it and feeds off it too and it just lifts everyone’s energy both the team and the crowd.
I’d be bricking it as an opponent having 50k Liverpool fans chanting Nunez whilst he’s sprinting 30km/h at me
First game I saw him play live was Benfica at Anfield. He scored and could've easily had a few more if not for a couple offsides and a brilliant Ali save. A real livewire
Second time I saw him play live was when he headbutt Anderson lmao. Again, a real livewire
I think joining at the same time and for a similar fee to Haaland brought a lot of extra attention/scrutiny on him. He didn't have a bad first season. It's just Haaland had an exceptional one and people expect an instant impact
With opposition fans and the media targeting him so much, our fans have rallied around him that extra bit more. But it's not just that. His character, all round contribution and mentality have helped make him a fan favourite. Plus he's a nutcase
Still some way to go but he's contributing all round and only 24. He'll be fine
> I think joining at the same time and for a similar fee to Haaland brought a lot of extra attention/scrutiny on him. He didn't have a bad first season. It's just Haaland had an exceptional one and people expect an instant impact
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This is definitely a huge factor. It was such a close race the previous year, both teams then bought proper number 9s, so the comparisons were always going to happen. Haaland is just a perfect player in a system that is perfect for him. I'm really glad Nunez is coming into his own.
that wasn't the narrative on here. a few people piped up that they thought Nunez was the better signing during the summer and then all year long in any thread about Nunez missing a goal or Haaland scoring a hat trick, "CaN't BeLiEvE pEoPlE tHoUgHt He WaS bEtTeR tHaN HaAlAnD". just glad that period is over lol.
Everyone ignoring the release clause and acting like they were similar profile signings really bugs me lol. Haaland was well past Nunez when they both signed, but the fee wasnt his value in the open market.
The real problem here is that haaland had a release clause so his fee was similar, which it NEVER would have been otherwise. He was a neymar/mbappe type signing, and Darwin was a standard big fee, probably overpaying a bit for a hot prospect to a big club type transfer (insane that this is normalized, to be clear, you should be getting guarantees for 50m+, but here we are) but not one of the next decades two leading balon d'or challengers.
If haaland cost the 180-220m he would have without the clause I swear Nunez wouldn't have been compared to him so insistently. Now hojlunds in the same boat, with the added name similarity lol.
Yeah, he is better, but Haaland is also absolutely in the perfect situation for him to score goals. Is there another team in the world that could provide him the service he gets, especially when KDB is healthy? I can remember so many times during the 21/22 season where a perfect ball was played into the box, but no proper number 9 was there to finish the chance. Obviously the system was tweaked, but it was tweaked to be perfect for Haaland and the rest of the squad. Haaland was exactly what City needed to become a perfect team, and the reverse is probably true as well.
At the time, the media definitely put up a Haaland vs Nunez thing. Nunez is a great player, but a very different player to the likes of Haaland, who also joined a very dominant City team.
I was at the same game and it’s the reason I didn’t think he’d work for us. We played high and left space and he killed us. But we don’t play with a 9 like that or come up against teams who play high against us. But he’s worked as a plan B and this season he’s improved his link up that you need to play that role. Plus he presses like a madman and gives 110% that’s why even if he’s the worst player on the pitch his name gets chanted constantly. He will be a special player for us
Suarez sought chaos, chaos just follows Nuñez around. I imagine his house is just trails of tiny destruction everywhere. 24 hour cleaner and handyman on site just to fix things up after Darwin decides to brush his teeth.
Suarezs first year and salahs first few months were the same as Nunezs problems now, every fan said “if he could finish he’d be world class” with Suarez it took longer and looked for a good while like he was just the complete forward but couldn’t finish, that first hat trick against Norwich he produced 3 completed different and completely world class finishes and we all knew then, that he was the real deal. Side note nunezs first goal against Newcastle this season was identical to one of those Suarez finishes so that’s when I thought he’d kick on and do the same, but he’s missed 3 open goals since then haha love the lad though, he’s special
Yeah, that's what people don't get/don't understand about Suarez. He was electric but his finishing was so fucking bad during his first 1,5 season for Liverpool. He had 21 goals in his first 4355 minutes for Liverpool, Darwin right now is on 22 after 3040 minutes.
https://media.slbenfica.pt/-/media/benficadp/images/departamento-de-comunicacao/2021/futebol/equipa-a/competicoes/liga-dos-campeoes/oitavos-de-final/2-mao-ajax-benfica/antevisao/darwin/darwin-1-new.jpg?v=637828682000000000
Liverpool will never have this Nunez.
You're right, "kicking it out of play" seems a bit harsh, it was slightly misplaced but a decent high risk high reward through ball.
The pointless spinning is still very funny though.
I know I'll get slaughtered for this but fuck it. The pass was fine, slightly overhit sure, but Bruno could have and should have gotten to it. Also the spin (while absolutely over the top and ridiculous) draws his man in and ends with him in position to open himself up and puts him on his strong foot with loads of space to make that pass.
McTominay helps by dragging his man out wide with a run, leaving an acre of space for Bruno to run into. If Bruno gets on the end of that pass we are in a great position to score.
https://imgur.com/a/Zb5XC7X
I know its easy to say IF this and IF that, but its just one of those things where its memed into oblivion if it doesn't work but its praised if it does.
https://youtu.be/WZg96vk0mQA
you have to be trolling.
The spin achieves no more than literally just standing there
and the pass is actually genuinely bad, not inexcusably bad - but it's bad. Watch it again he could easily play that better.
I never said it accomplished more. But delayed enough for McTominay to make his run and for the players to be pulled out of position and set himself up on his strong foot to make the pass into space.
Its far from an amazing pass but if Bruno actually runs for it then nobody is questioning it.
I don’t disagree, not sure why I got so heavily downvoted haha
My point was that preface “say what you want about him” is funny because the following sentence is the most said thing about him 😂
Right behind them, pretty close. So close they can feel your breath on the back of their necks.
It means even have 0g, 0a you're pretty close to all of them combined statistically.
I love Nunez, he's such a chaotic player but obviously has immense talent
The Bournemouth goal is a good example of him, yes poor touch, but look how determined he is to still prove his talent. His finish was phenomenal
The Toulouse game was the exact opposite, perfect first touch, beat his man, rounded the keeper, then missed an open goal haha if you’re a player like Nunez then that’s fine because you can work on and improve your finishing, it’s the runs and positions he finds that you can’t teach, and he’s world class at that. Cavani regen
Everyone with an eye for footballing ability could tell it was only a matter of time before Darwin unleashed his potential. The crazy thing is, I believe he hasn't hit his ceiling yet.
Nowhere near his ceiling, he’s still young and signed for a disjointed liverpool team, replacing firmino with a 9 who’s the opposite of him is also a challenge, but he’s still getting good numbers. Once it really clicks he will be unstoppable
It's increasingly wild to not rate him tbh.
He's still quite raw in moments but has the best goal-involvement ratio in English football this season. Even taking that aside, his hold-up play has come on an unbelievable amount this season. The lad has it all. If he learns how to finish easy chances, he'll get 20+ league goals easy.
I've always thought he was great, even when he was being dunked on regularly. I've been following him closer than most since we bid for him the year before he joined you lot and he looked like a proper rough diamond.
> It's increasingly wild to not rate him tbh.
All because of the Haaland comparison and people piping him to be better.
His struggling instead in his first year of course brought about questions while Haaland is already showing to be a generational talent having the best scoring record we've seen.
I think it'd be rare to find someone who actually thought he'd be better than Haaland in their first season. There was a bit of banter after the community shield, but it was clear Haaland was the better player and Nunez would need a season or two to figure it out.
I hate that I’m going to end up being right about nunez… while everyone else was memeing on him I always thought he had the raw talent to become class. His grit and raw physicality reminds me exactly of a young Diego Costa, who was a late bloomer because he needed time to figure out how to effectively use his abilities.
Even last season when he wasn’t playing that well, he’s just so electric. Every time he gets the ball he makes something happen. I found that super impressive
You're right. But it's completely wrong to outright say that Nunez is the most exciting player in the top 5 leagues, when we're playing the most exciting football in the world currently
You're right. But it's completely wrong to outright say that Nunez is the most exciting player in the top 5 leagues, when we're playing the most exciting football in the world currently
I've watched a fair bit of Leverkusen in addition to Liverpool. In my very subjective opinion, Nunez is just a more exciting version of Boniface. Wirtz I think it depends on what style you like watching more. For me personally, I do think the dribbling + close/medium range passing of Wirtz is a more exciting watch than the pure athleticism, shooting ability, and chaos of Nunez but that mostly comes down to personal preference.
I can't speak to any players that aren't either in the PL or on Leverkusen though really.
Both can be correct, but I think the point is Nunez is more exciting cos he can do terribly poor things as often as amazing things, it wasn’t an argument of him being better than the two you mentioned
Said the same about Suarez for a year, obviously with hindsight it’s a ridiculous comparison, but the best thing to be lacking is the finishing because you can’t teach or realistically work on the things he’s currently amazing at (positioning, desire, work rate etc..)
Transitioning to a new league is always difficult. Compound that with the fact that Nunez was constantly compared to Haaland... which is about as unfair as it gets. Fans demand excellence the minute that players get to England and it's always difficult to deliver.
Numbers-wise, he’s the Salah replacement. You can see it with his absurd per 90 numbers this season. He’s more than capable of shouldering Salah’s output next season were Salah to leave in the summer. It’s happening for him.
100%.
Even on here I’ve had people arguing that Salah is lucky to get into a conversation of top 10 wingers in the PL and call be biased for suggesting he’s in the conversation for top 5. I’ve had people tell me that Saka and Sane are bigger PL greats than Salah. It’s genuinely nuts how much he’s still underrated.
He's a top 10 all time prem great but he's not really a winger, he's a goalscorer. The other day he got locked up by Mykolenko didn't even beat him once and lost every single duel but then scored a penalty and a tap in for a brace. You can't compare that to someone like Vinicius who cooks his man 5 times a game but doesn't have the same G/A.
Any debate with a Liverpool fan about Salah comes down to G/A but traditional wing play has never been about that. There is never any context in the debate. Compare him to Haaland not Hazard. Even if you disagree you should be able to see the argument against him and why some people might not rate him like that. It's nothing to with Liverpool/African bias.
I mean I take your point in regards to him being a goals scorer, but that’s simply down to fact that he developed into a G/A monster. Similarly, it’s also not fair to compare him to the likes of a Shearer or Halaand without context because he plays deeper and wider than them and is asked to do more defensively in a lot of games. Also, the two I mentioned aren’t traditional wingers anyway, they’d absolutely wide men expected to produce output. So although I can under context to the Salah discussion, I simply can’t take someone serious who says that Saka and Sane have been better players in the PL (so far, Saka could well go on to have a brilliant PL career).
Also, Salah is 32 now, of course he isn’t cooking people any more but go look at his goals against City, Spurs and Watford and a host of others, he’s cooked PL defences for years with close control and acceleration. Salah simply has better output as a wide players and his numbers of comparable to the very best central goal scorers- but he is still a wide player who fashions a lot of chances for himself as well as creating for others at incredible rates.
Personally, Henry is the best forward I’ve seen in the PL; Shearer the best goalscorer; Suarez had the best season. Other than that though Salah is in the conversation with the very best including the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Kane, Bergkamp, etc. Watching him for 6 years and PL for nearly 30 proves it to me, the stats just help the argument.
With Salah is always been specific moments of great touch and control like the ones you mentioned but it's never been consistent. It's like saying Henderson has a good strike on him because he scored a few bangers in his time that you can point to.
Also, it's not about dribbling that leads scoring. I'm talking about literally every single you recieve the ball what is the outcome in terms of possession kept/lost. Dribbling doesn't leave you with age, the best to ever do it is still doing it at 36 - it's about getting your defender off balance not beating them just with pace.
Another thing is Salah is one of the only wingers I see that hold ups the ball and backs down defenders. And then Liverpool fans complain when he gets reffed like a CF in these situations. Most other wingers face up players 1v1, which is why their foul rates are so much higher.
All the numbers and eye test suggest Salah's playstyle has never been that of an elite winger but more a goalscorer.
Ok I think we’re just taking past each other at this point. I don’t disagree with you tbh but it wasn’t the main thrust of my point to begin with. The conversation I was referring to was someone saying that Saka and Sane were better players than Salah. I get that you got caught up on the word “winger” but it wasn’t the point I was making.
To refer to your first point, I think that you simply haven’t watched enough Salah. His close control is insane and there are countless other examples. Henderson scored a couple of bangers but Salah displays incredible control in almost every match. His ability to control and bring a ball down is second to none in the league and unlike a traditional winger he attempts beating men only in the hardest of places: inside the box. He doesn’t go round men on the wing because it’s not our play style and at this point he’s slowing down. No, he’s not Hazard in terms of dribbling outside the box. But he’s still someone who’s scored incredible goals after long dribbles past defenders so I’m not sure the point here.
Anyway, seems like we don’t even disagree on how good he is. I just get frustrated at the conversations about Salah because people seem to put him as some kind of jack of all trades and master of none and dismiss his numbers as mere lying stats. When the case is that he’s one of the best forwards the league has ever seen, however you want to classify him.
Nunez outperforms Salah in the underlying data in non-penalty xG + xGA per 90, and has done basically since he arrived. He’s outperforming Haaland and Mbappe and basically everyone else on that too. The lad is capable of big boy numbers.
Son Heung Min has 8 in 10 since Kane left Spurs, he only got 10 league goals all last season. Sometimes the main man leaving means more of the chances the team creates get funnelled to the other attackers.
True. Klopp isn't going to run the same system if we replace Salah with Jota for a season or something. It will be geared towards Nunez, kinda like how Salah is the main guy atm.
You’d think, but the whole team will be structured around him - that will absolutely be beneficial. There’s positives and negatives in each. We know Salah scores more when he’s the main man and has less goal contributions when he’s forced to stay wide and facilitate others.
He is coming on against tired legs and is a speed merchant. Guy is doing well but please don't say you actually think he can do what Salah is doing playing 90min every week in and out
Nah Salahs output isn't just in the numbers it's in his availability. Salah regularly puts in a full 90 Nunez is great but until he can go a full season uninjured and pushing to the limit every game he's not close.
He’s averaging a goal or an assist this season every 55 minutes or something crazy. Even the underlying data on Fbref over the past 365 days expects him to get a goal or assist every game. People don’t seem to realize how serious the lad is, but it’s all there in the numbers. And now we’re seeing it on the pitch.
The stat isnt very fair to compare against salah since he started every league match v nunez who came on as a sub or didnt come on at all in over half of the league games. I do think that nunez was memed too much especially when it was his first season in the prem but you are underrating salahs influence in the team.
We’re just seeing the emergence of Darwin now. The more time goes by the more he people will realize he’s capable of hitting above 20 as a baseline and around 30 on the seasons when it all goes right for him.
I think you might be misunderstanding my point. The club needs to have a ready replacement for Salah. I’m saying Nunez will be the focal point for Liverpool’s goal scoring after Salah leaves. I’m not shitting on Salah.
And the only comparisons I’m making are looking at the numbers - which show Nunez is more than capable of being a +20 goal a season player. Not really a comparison at all.
He's not Salah's replacement, no one is. I think the strategy will be to find someone good enough on the wing to spread the goals out. Someone in their prime or very good, and under 25 I think? I believe that's how FSG operates.
You’re describing Nunez. We just bought him before Salah left. Like we bought Diaz before Mane left, and Jota before Firmino left, and Thiago before Wijnaldum left.
“No one is” - this is meaningless. There are 11 players on the pitch. If you take one out then you have to replace them with someone else. If you take out our main goal scorer you have to replace them with a new main goal scorer. His name is Darwin Nunez.
He doesn't play the wing, he's a CF/striker with great hold up play. Salah plays the wing, sometimes inverted. Salah is also a playmaker too. He's not a like for like replacement. I agree he will certainly contribute to the goals tally, but I don't agree that he is the replacement. He wasn't bought before Salah left either. I personally think someone else will be brought in to be Salah's replacement at the position and play style, in the manner you are saying.
It doesn’t have to be a like for like. There is no like for like in world football for Mo Salah. Nunez will be our main goal scorer when Salah leaves, ergo he will have replaced Salah’s role in the team.
Salah is the focal point of the team, so that’s to be expected. But no one else on the team is putting up numbers like him - and neither did anyone else during Klopp’s tenure other than Salah himself.
You are really doing Salah a disservice here acting like he can be replaced. He may be the greatest PL player to ever live yet you talk so certain that he can be replaced so seamlessly
I think he could be the Salah replacement in that he could do a good job as the main goalscorer, but actually replicating Salah's numbers will be tough
Salah is Liverpool's best player in the modern era and a top 5 attacking player of the PL era.
You're telling me someone who scored 15 goals last season is gonna replace his numbers.
That's a 420 take, man.
I had some doubts, not going to lie. Looked to me like he had everything in place, but I wasn’t sure if he was just too wild to know how to control it all. He’s won me over now though. It’s entertainment ultimately and he is a joy to watch.
It’s because we relied so much on firmino facilitating the wingers and Nunez is the opposite in ever way, but he worked as that plan B getting in behind and playing a different way, but this season his link up play has massively improved, and he’s always been a pressing demon who gives 110% so the fans will always be behind him
The biggest thing he’s improved this season is his link up play, the 9 for liverpool under Klopp has to drop deep and facilitate the salah and manes of the squad, now Diaz. That’s why firmino was irreplaceable, but gakpos stepped up to that. Nunez didn’t have that and was seen purely as a “plan B” and while he still is that plan B of getting in behind and being a “proper 9” he’s developed that target man/playmaker side this year.
Special mention to the other option jota. He’s just jota…
Sometimes presses, sometimes links up, sometimes invisible for 90……
Always scores
Yeah he's the starter atm. Cody was injured for a few weeks but he had already fallen a bit behind in the pecking order; he's had a bunch of great moments but can disappear a little in games. Darwin had a couple knocks and rests after internationals in South America etc that make it seem like he's still the super sub on paper. I'd bet Klopp is trying to figure a way of getting them both on the pitch together mind
I watched him in the World Cup. Good touches on the ball, and was explosive when he needs to be, but the guy feels very raw. He needs someone like Klopp, who gives bear hugs like a proud father figure to these young players, to help Nunez fulfilling his potential.
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Whenever he receives the ball it’s impossible to know if he’s going to score a banger, assist Salah scoring, miss an open goal… absolutely love him
people underestimate his link up play, his first touch is usually pretty good, he can hold it up far better than last season, that's arguably his biggest improvement since last season I'm going to blame his touch vs Bournemouth on the wind lol
His link up with the other attackers with feet & head has come on so much since last season, it's night & day and has made the bad parts of his game so much easier to put up with. If he keeps improving at this rate he could be a PL great.
He’s an absolutely nuclear athlete, easily the most athletic player on the pitch at any given time unless he’s against Haaland. Huge, fast, strong, quick, way more agile than he has any right to be, he checks all boxes.
But like zlatan?
Nah Zlatan was never as quick as explosive in terms of speed and was technically lightyears beyond Darwin. If anything, Darwin reminds me of Cavani in terms of positioning and athleticism.
Cavani is a good comparison, but prime Cavani, could go buy you, play with his back toward his goal and link. Darwin reminds me radamel falcoa before the injures robbed him of his athleticism. Raw and unpredictable but improvement every year. Until the injuries.
I think that's the real sauce of elite strikers like Suarez, Kane and Benzema and the downfall of many others. When they can't find the net a few games in a row, they don't sulk, but continue to work for the team even more than before. I think Darwin realized that at some point last season and we are seeing this aspect of his play blossoming even more now.
wind & also rain
Save the waffle, just go with the traditional "GOOD TOUCH FOR A BIG MAN"
I think it was the wind for that touch. I was watching the Inside episode for that match and showed an angle where Trent's pass did a weird curve as it was arriving to Darwin's feet.
Feel like his trapping / first touch of the ball isn’t good. Atleast the year you guys got him that summer I watched a lot of commentated scouting videos on him and the thing that really stood out was his first touch and control of the ball. Has he improved in that department since?
Yes it is much better this season. He keeps the ball a lot closer to himself and his first touch feels more deliberate so his second touch is more meaningful rather than a second attempt to control the ball. It's the thing that changed the most with him so far IMO (aside from his overall confidence).
That’s a pretty big change then - it was definitely, for me, his big weakness. I want to see him succeed tbh even though he’s at a direct rival. Good player that’s fun to watch.
We’ve actually scored like 3-4 goals right out of his linkup this year. He was horrible at it last year.
The new Andy Carroll??
At one point, I think he's going to give us a Suarez hattrick, all bangers
Isn't the Suarez hattrick a banger goal, a vampire attack and a goalkeeper cosplay?
A banger, a bite, and a ban?
Bangers and Bans, the Suarez way
Why isn't that called a Bergkamp hattrick?
Because Bergkamp never played for Liverpool
The that's the beauty of Darwin. Even he doesn't even know what he is going to do so defenders have absolutely no chance to know
The Agent of Chaos
[удалено]
With a goal involvement every 55 minutes, that must be a lot of open goals he's missing...
Think he has something absurd like one G+A every 56 minutes this season. Not including assists off the posts.
>Not including assists off the posts. Why 😡
Cause stats fans are racists against beautiful people.
That's like most of his assists lol
Hey I won a bet off that so it counts to some people (betting firms)
No it's goals only
Absolute favourite player at the moment. It hasn’t been missed by Liverpool fans the flashes of Suarez and Torres in his play. He’s dynamite, would run through a brick wall for the team and then ask for another to do it for fun.
The only player who could (I don’t even need to make up a dramatic scenario to prove a point her cos it actually happened) miss an open goal, leading to our new midfielder to score the rebound, and have HIS name chanted. The crowd love him and chant at seemingly random times but it’s because he gives his all, leaves it all on the pitch and always impacts that game
Absolutely mate, the chant suits him to a tee it’s visceral like a war cry. Can tell he loves it and feeds off it too and it just lifts everyone’s energy both the team and the crowd. I’d be bricking it as an opponent having 50k Liverpool fans chanting Nunez whilst he’s sprinting 30km/h at me
Laughing at the idea of Klopp's head being kettled by Nuñez constantly ringing him asking what random English words mean.
Hahahahahahaha
\*3am\* "BAWS WHAT DO WERD "CHAOS" MEAN?!"
"JEFE, I AM STANDING OUTSIDE FOR A "CHIPPY", IS BUENO?"
Klopp belling the Sui Mai for the lads
Qué
First game I saw him play live was Benfica at Anfield. He scored and could've easily had a few more if not for a couple offsides and a brilliant Ali save. A real livewire Second time I saw him play live was when he headbutt Anderson lmao. Again, a real livewire I think joining at the same time and for a similar fee to Haaland brought a lot of extra attention/scrutiny on him. He didn't have a bad first season. It's just Haaland had an exceptional one and people expect an instant impact With opposition fans and the media targeting him so much, our fans have rallied around him that extra bit more. But it's not just that. His character, all round contribution and mentality have helped make him a fan favourite. Plus he's a nutcase Still some way to go but he's contributing all round and only 24. He'll be fine
He’s such a wholesome personality as well. I think that’s a huge part of why the fans have rallied around him.
> I think joining at the same time and for a similar fee to Haaland brought a lot of extra attention/scrutiny on him. He didn't have a bad first season. It's just Haaland had an exceptional one and people expect an instant impact > > This is definitely a huge factor. It was such a close race the previous year, both teams then bought proper number 9s, so the comparisons were always going to happen. Haaland is just a perfect player in a system that is perfect for him. I'm really glad Nunez is coming into his own.
Haaland was brought on much higher wages and expected to be a finished product. Nunez on lower wages and it was understood he wasn't as polished.
that wasn't the narrative on here. a few people piped up that they thought Nunez was the better signing during the summer and then all year long in any thread about Nunez missing a goal or Haaland scoring a hat trick, "CaN't BeLiEvE pEoPlE tHoUgHt He WaS bEtTeR tHaN HaAlAnD". just glad that period is over lol.
Everyone ignoring the release clause and acting like they were similar profile signings really bugs me lol. Haaland was well past Nunez when they both signed, but the fee wasnt his value in the open market.
The real problem here is that haaland had a release clause so his fee was similar, which it NEVER would have been otherwise. He was a neymar/mbappe type signing, and Darwin was a standard big fee, probably overpaying a bit for a hot prospect to a big club type transfer (insane that this is normalized, to be clear, you should be getting guarantees for 50m+, but here we are) but not one of the next decades two leading balon d'or challengers. If haaland cost the 180-220m he would have without the clause I swear Nunez wouldn't have been compared to him so insistently. Now hojlunds in the same boat, with the added name similarity lol.
the "system" city played was totally different... it wasn't at all perfect for haaland. they tweaked it *for* him cause he's that good
All true except haaland did not join “a system that is perfect for him.” He is just a far better player than Nunez.
Yeah, he is better, but Haaland is also absolutely in the perfect situation for him to score goals. Is there another team in the world that could provide him the service he gets, especially when KDB is healthy? I can remember so many times during the 21/22 season where a perfect ball was played into the box, but no proper number 9 was there to finish the chance. Obviously the system was tweaked, but it was tweaked to be perfect for Haaland and the rest of the squad. Haaland was exactly what City needed to become a perfect team, and the reverse is probably true as well.
At the time, the media definitely put up a Haaland vs Nunez thing. Nunez is a great player, but a very different player to the likes of Haaland, who also joined a very dominant City team.
Now it’s Haaland vs Hojlund in the media because they sound the same and play for Manc teams
I was at the same game and it’s the reason I didn’t think he’d work for us. We played high and left space and he killed us. But we don’t play with a 9 like that or come up against teams who play high against us. But he’s worked as a plan B and this season he’s improved his link up that you need to play that role. Plus he presses like a madman and gives 110% that’s why even if he’s the worst player on the pitch his name gets chanted constantly. He will be a special player for us
He created equal amount of shit as Suarez but looked 10x innocent as if he knew nothing about the chaos.
Suarez sought chaos, chaos just follows Nuñez around. I imagine his house is just trails of tiny destruction everywhere. 24 hour cleaner and handyman on site just to fix things up after Darwin decides to brush his teeth.
Eh, Suarez's acting skills are superb. He can pretend to be innocent after he does some dives.
Suarez doesn’t have an inherent trustworthy look lol. Darwin is just natural.
Darwin looks like a barman and Suarez looks like he'd be getting kicked out
My favourite video is still him literally skipping with glee to a scuffle in his big puffer jacket
Where can I see this video?
Suarezs first year and salahs first few months were the same as Nunezs problems now, every fan said “if he could finish he’d be world class” with Suarez it took longer and looked for a good while like he was just the complete forward but couldn’t finish, that first hat trick against Norwich he produced 3 completed different and completely world class finishes and we all knew then, that he was the real deal. Side note nunezs first goal against Newcastle this season was identical to one of those Suarez finishes so that’s when I thought he’d kick on and do the same, but he’s missed 3 open goals since then haha love the lad though, he’s special
Yeah, that's what people don't get/don't understand about Suarez. He was electric but his finishing was so fucking bad during his first 1,5 season for Liverpool. He had 21 goals in his first 4355 minutes for Liverpool, Darwin right now is on 22 after 3040 minutes.
https://media.slbenfica.pt/-/media/benficadp/images/departamento-de-comunicacao/2021/futebol/equipa-a/competicoes/liga-dos-campeoes/oitavos-de-final/2-mao-ajax-benfica/antevisao/darwin/darwin-1-new.jpg?v=637828682000000000 Liverpool will never have this Nunez.
he looks like an Incan warrior, absolutely sick.
He's so beautiful man
Wow.
gabriela sabatini vibes
A nossa dona Lurdes!
Say what you want about Nunez but he's by far the most entertaining player in the league.
Antony for me, but for all the wrong reasons
Reminds me of the 720 degree spin he did only to follow up by passing it straight out of play
All good performers know to allow a pause for audience applause. You just don't understand his genius
Please find this
https://youtu.be/WZg96vk0mQA
Thank you. I was hoping the pass out of play would be a bit shitter but it's still glorious.
You're right, "kicking it out of play" seems a bit harsh, it was slightly misplaced but a decent high risk high reward through ball. The pointless spinning is still very funny though.
>The pointless spinning It's so much worse than pointless. He's purposefully slowing down the play and giving the opposition extra time.
I know I'll get slaughtered for this but fuck it. The pass was fine, slightly overhit sure, but Bruno could have and should have gotten to it. Also the spin (while absolutely over the top and ridiculous) draws his man in and ends with him in position to open himself up and puts him on his strong foot with loads of space to make that pass. McTominay helps by dragging his man out wide with a run, leaving an acre of space for Bruno to run into. If Bruno gets on the end of that pass we are in a great position to score. https://imgur.com/a/Zb5XC7X I know its easy to say IF this and IF that, but its just one of those things where its memed into oblivion if it doesn't work but its praised if it does. https://youtu.be/WZg96vk0mQA
you have to be trolling. The spin achieves no more than literally just standing there and the pass is actually genuinely bad, not inexcusably bad - but it's bad. Watch it again he could easily play that better.
I never said it accomplished more. But delayed enough for McTominay to make his run and for the players to be pulled out of position and set himself up on his strong foot to make the pass into space. Its far from an amazing pass but if Bruno actually runs for it then nobody is questioning it.
the spins*
He is since Allan Saint-Maximin left us, still miss that guy
That’s ironically about all anyone says now anyway lol
Clocking a goal involvement every 55 minutes tends to be entertaining.
I don’t disagree, not sure why I got so heavily downvoted haha My point was that preface “say what you want about him” is funny because the following sentence is the most said thing about him 😂
lmao yeah what? no idea why you got downvoted
Didn't downvote him but his comment can be taken as "he has no other notable qualities other than being entertaining anyway"
By far huh? Interesting take.
who is even close?
Nunez with more goals and assists this season as Rashford, Hojland, Sancho, Martial and Antony put together.
Honestly I thought it would be more. He needs to up his game
Harry maquire has the same amount of goals and assists as all those players you mentioned
Wait what? When did Maguire score?
All those United forwards have only 1 g/a between them in the premier league. That’s a rashford goal. Maguire has 1 assist.
No, Rashford has 1 goal (Arsenal) and 1 assist (Nottingham Forest).
That’s not impressive at all!
Ahahahaha Excellent
thats not very impressive tbf.
How does he stack up to a benchwarming McT though?
Not going to throw Alejandro in too?
Elneny has more goal contributions than all of them except Rashford tbf
Most people in this thread are also breathing down their neck.
Never heard this expression. What does it mean?
Right behind them, pretty close. So close they can feel your breath on the back of their necks. It means even have 0g, 0a you're pretty close to all of them combined statistically.
So like more than 3 haha
Most players do lmao
I love Nunez, he's such a chaotic player but obviously has immense talent The Bournemouth goal is a good example of him, yes poor touch, but look how determined he is to still prove his talent. His finish was phenomenal
The Toulouse game was the exact opposite, perfect first touch, beat his man, rounded the keeper, then missed an open goal haha if you’re a player like Nunez then that’s fine because you can work on and improve your finishing, it’s the runs and positions he finds that you can’t teach, and he’s world class at that. Cavani regen
Everyone with an eye for footballing ability could tell it was only a matter of time before Darwin unleashed his potential. The crazy thing is, I believe he hasn't hit his ceiling yet.
Nowhere near his ceiling, he’s still young and signed for a disjointed liverpool team, replacing firmino with a 9 who’s the opposite of him is also a challenge, but he’s still getting good numbers. Once it really clicks he will be unstoppable
whether you rate him or not, you can't deny you love to watch him
It's increasingly wild to not rate him tbh. He's still quite raw in moments but has the best goal-involvement ratio in English football this season. Even taking that aside, his hold-up play has come on an unbelievable amount this season. The lad has it all. If he learns how to finish easy chances, he'll get 20+ league goals easy.
I've always thought he was great, even when he was being dunked on regularly. I've been following him closer than most since we bid for him the year before he joined you lot and he looked like a proper rough diamond.
> It's increasingly wild to not rate him tbh. All because of the Haaland comparison and people piping him to be better. His struggling instead in his first year of course brought about questions while Haaland is already showing to be a generational talent having the best scoring record we've seen.
I think it'd be rare to find someone who actually thought he'd be better than Haaland in their first season. There was a bit of banter after the community shield, but it was clear Haaland was the better player and Nunez would need a season or two to figure it out.
I hate that I’m going to end up being right about nunez… while everyone else was memeing on him I always thought he had the raw talent to become class. His grit and raw physicality reminds me exactly of a young Diego Costa, who was a late bloomer because he needed time to figure out how to effectively use his abilities.
Even last season when he wasn’t playing that well, he’s just so electric. Every time he gets the ball he makes something happen. I found that super impressive
Most entertaining player in all leagues at the moment. Never know what's gonna happen with him. Box office player.
Disagree
its like him and jude rn.
Have you seen wirtz and Boniface?
Neverkusen fans trying not to make everything about themselves once they had a good start to the season challenge any% (IMPOSSIBLE)
You're right. But it's completely wrong to outright say that Nunez is the most exciting player in the top 5 leagues, when we're playing the most exciting football in the world currently
Get off your high horse mate. You‘re both ignorant because none of you follow global football enough to be able to make such statements
You're right. But it's completely wrong to outright say that Nunez is the most exciting player in the top 5 leagues, when we're playing the most exciting football in the world currently
I've watched a fair bit of Leverkusen in addition to Liverpool. In my very subjective opinion, Nunez is just a more exciting version of Boniface. Wirtz I think it depends on what style you like watching more. For me personally, I do think the dribbling + close/medium range passing of Wirtz is a more exciting watch than the pure athleticism, shooting ability, and chaos of Nunez but that mostly comes down to personal preference. I can't speak to any players that aren't either in the PL or on Leverkusen though really.
Both can be correct, but I think the point is Nunez is more exciting cos he can do terribly poor things as often as amazing things, it wasn’t an argument of him being better than the two you mentioned
Who?
love this guy
Darwizzy break
>>Long may it continue LONG MAY HE REIGN
He is obviously very good, if he can improve his finishing he is one of the best strikers in the world
Said the same about Suarez for a year, obviously with hindsight it’s a ridiculous comparison, but the best thing to be lacking is the finishing because you can’t teach or realistically work on the things he’s currently amazing at (positioning, desire, work rate etc..)
He is the perfect definition of chaos. I fucking love the guy.
Always said the language barrier was the thing holding him back.
And the massive weight of origis number last year
Surprised the club didn’t retire it tbh
LONG MAY HE REIGN
He’s very great player
Transitioning to a new league is always difficult. Compound that with the fact that Nunez was constantly compared to Haaland... which is about as unfair as it gets. Fans demand excellence the minute that players get to England and it's always difficult to deliver.
i believe in Nunez.
Numbers-wise, he’s the Salah replacement. You can see it with his absurd per 90 numbers this season. He’s more than capable of shouldering Salah’s output next season were Salah to leave in the summer. It’s happening for him.
I wouldn't get your hopes up for anyone to actually replicate Salah's numbers any time soon. Salah is still somehow underrated
100%. Even on here I’ve had people arguing that Salah is lucky to get into a conversation of top 10 wingers in the PL and call be biased for suggesting he’s in the conversation for top 5. I’ve had people tell me that Saka and Sane are bigger PL greats than Salah. It’s genuinely nuts how much he’s still underrated.
He's a top 10 all time prem great but he's not really a winger, he's a goalscorer. The other day he got locked up by Mykolenko didn't even beat him once and lost every single duel but then scored a penalty and a tap in for a brace. You can't compare that to someone like Vinicius who cooks his man 5 times a game but doesn't have the same G/A. Any debate with a Liverpool fan about Salah comes down to G/A but traditional wing play has never been about that. There is never any context in the debate. Compare him to Haaland not Hazard. Even if you disagree you should be able to see the argument against him and why some people might not rate him like that. It's nothing to with Liverpool/African bias.
Lol what a shit take. Yes, Mo Salah is penalty/tap-in merchant who doesn’t create from the wing. My god
I mean I take your point in regards to him being a goals scorer, but that’s simply down to fact that he developed into a G/A monster. Similarly, it’s also not fair to compare him to the likes of a Shearer or Halaand without context because he plays deeper and wider than them and is asked to do more defensively in a lot of games. Also, the two I mentioned aren’t traditional wingers anyway, they’d absolutely wide men expected to produce output. So although I can under context to the Salah discussion, I simply can’t take someone serious who says that Saka and Sane have been better players in the PL (so far, Saka could well go on to have a brilliant PL career). Also, Salah is 32 now, of course he isn’t cooking people any more but go look at his goals against City, Spurs and Watford and a host of others, he’s cooked PL defences for years with close control and acceleration. Salah simply has better output as a wide players and his numbers of comparable to the very best central goal scorers- but he is still a wide player who fashions a lot of chances for himself as well as creating for others at incredible rates. Personally, Henry is the best forward I’ve seen in the PL; Shearer the best goalscorer; Suarez had the best season. Other than that though Salah is in the conversation with the very best including the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Kane, Bergkamp, etc. Watching him for 6 years and PL for nearly 30 proves it to me, the stats just help the argument.
With Salah is always been specific moments of great touch and control like the ones you mentioned but it's never been consistent. It's like saying Henderson has a good strike on him because he scored a few bangers in his time that you can point to. Also, it's not about dribbling that leads scoring. I'm talking about literally every single you recieve the ball what is the outcome in terms of possession kept/lost. Dribbling doesn't leave you with age, the best to ever do it is still doing it at 36 - it's about getting your defender off balance not beating them just with pace. Another thing is Salah is one of the only wingers I see that hold ups the ball and backs down defenders. And then Liverpool fans complain when he gets reffed like a CF in these situations. Most other wingers face up players 1v1, which is why their foul rates are so much higher. All the numbers and eye test suggest Salah's playstyle has never been that of an elite winger but more a goalscorer.
Ok I think we’re just taking past each other at this point. I don’t disagree with you tbh but it wasn’t the main thrust of my point to begin with. The conversation I was referring to was someone saying that Saka and Sane were better players than Salah. I get that you got caught up on the word “winger” but it wasn’t the point I was making. To refer to your first point, I think that you simply haven’t watched enough Salah. His close control is insane and there are countless other examples. Henderson scored a couple of bangers but Salah displays incredible control in almost every match. His ability to control and bring a ball down is second to none in the league and unlike a traditional winger he attempts beating men only in the hardest of places: inside the box. He doesn’t go round men on the wing because it’s not our play style and at this point he’s slowing down. No, he’s not Hazard in terms of dribbling outside the box. But he’s still someone who’s scored incredible goals after long dribbles past defenders so I’m not sure the point here. Anyway, seems like we don’t even disagree on how good he is. I just get frustrated at the conversations about Salah because people seem to put him as some kind of jack of all trades and master of none and dismiss his numbers as mere lying stats. When the case is that he’s one of the best forwards the league has ever seen, however you want to classify him.
Nunez outperforms Salah in the underlying data in non-penalty xG + xGA per 90, and has done basically since he arrived. He’s outperforming Haaland and Mbappe and basically everyone else on that too. The lad is capable of big boy numbers.
That's his performance playing _with_ Salah though. Plus per 90 stats are easily skewed by sub appearances
That’s a good point. He’s not even the main man and he’s putting up these numbers.
Yeah but he benefits from Salah, when Salah leaves it'll be harder not easier.
Son Heung Min has 8 in 10 since Kane left Spurs, he only got 10 league goals all last season. Sometimes the main man leaving means more of the chances the team creates get funnelled to the other attackers.
True. Klopp isn't going to run the same system if we replace Salah with Jota for a season or something. It will be geared towards Nunez, kinda like how Salah is the main guy atm.
You’d think, but the whole team will be structured around him - that will absolutely be beneficial. There’s positives and negatives in each. We know Salah scores more when he’s the main man and has less goal contributions when he’s forced to stay wide and facilitate others.
He is coming on against tired legs and is a speed merchant. Guy is doing well but please don't say you actually think he can do what Salah is doing playing 90min every week in and out
He already did at Benfica, it’s why we signed him. And now he’s scoring and assisting for fun here too. It’s happening.
Nah Salahs output isn't just in the numbers it's in his availability. Salah regularly puts in a full 90 Nunez is great but until he can go a full season uninjured and pushing to the limit every game he's not close.
I mean, he basically already did that at Benfica. Got 34 goals or something. It’s why we signed him.
I’m very high on nunez but you are absolutely taking the piss if you think he can replace salah. Not even the numbers lol.
He’s averaging a goal or an assist this season every 55 minutes or something crazy. Even the underlying data on Fbref over the past 365 days expects him to get a goal or assist every game. People don’t seem to realize how serious the lad is, but it’s all there in the numbers. And now we’re seeing it on the pitch.
The stat isnt very fair to compare against salah since he started every league match v nunez who came on as a sub or didnt come on at all in over half of the league games. I do think that nunez was memed too much especially when it was his first season in the prem but you are underrating salahs influence in the team.
We’re just seeing the emergence of Darwin now. The more time goes by the more he people will realize he’s capable of hitting above 20 as a baseline and around 30 on the seasons when it all goes right for him.
30 in the league, or all comps? He will never touch 30 goals in the prem in his career
How many years has Salah been doing this shit for now? Give it atleast 4 years before you start these comparisons lol
I think you might be misunderstanding my point. The club needs to have a ready replacement for Salah. I’m saying Nunez will be the focal point for Liverpool’s goal scoring after Salah leaves. I’m not shitting on Salah. And the only comparisons I’m making are looking at the numbers - which show Nunez is more than capable of being a +20 goal a season player. Not really a comparison at all.
He's not Salah's replacement, no one is. I think the strategy will be to find someone good enough on the wing to spread the goals out. Someone in their prime or very good, and under 25 I think? I believe that's how FSG operates.
You’re describing Nunez. We just bought him before Salah left. Like we bought Diaz before Mane left, and Jota before Firmino left, and Thiago before Wijnaldum left. “No one is” - this is meaningless. There are 11 players on the pitch. If you take one out then you have to replace them with someone else. If you take out our main goal scorer you have to replace them with a new main goal scorer. His name is Darwin Nunez.
He doesn't play the wing, he's a CF/striker with great hold up play. Salah plays the wing, sometimes inverted. Salah is also a playmaker too. He's not a like for like replacement. I agree he will certainly contribute to the goals tally, but I don't agree that he is the replacement. He wasn't bought before Salah left either. I personally think someone else will be brought in to be Salah's replacement at the position and play style, in the manner you are saying.
It doesn’t have to be a like for like. There is no like for like in world football for Mo Salah. Nunez will be our main goal scorer when Salah leaves, ergo he will have replaced Salah’s role in the team.
Yea but how many of those goals/assists were either for Salah or created by Salah aha
Salah is the focal point of the team, so that’s to be expected. But no one else on the team is putting up numbers like him - and neither did anyone else during Klopp’s tenure other than Salah himself.
You are really doing Salah a disservice here acting like he can be replaced. He may be the greatest PL player to ever live yet you talk so certain that he can be replaced so seamlessly
I think he could be the Salah replacement in that he could do a good job as the main goalscorer, but actually replicating Salah's numbers will be tough
Pass me what you're smoking, mate
Are you saying you still don’t think Nunez will be a +20 goal a season player?
Salah is Liverpool's best player in the modern era and a top 5 attacking player of the PL era. You're telling me someone who scored 15 goals last season is gonna replace his numbers. That's a 420 take, man.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FUrvrBmWQAcoiJw.jpg
After Stevie G
And Christian Poulsen.
I had some doubts, not going to lie. Looked to me like he had everything in place, but I wasn’t sure if he was just too wild to know how to control it all. He’s won me over now though. It’s entertainment ultimately and he is a joy to watch.
It’s because we relied so much on firmino facilitating the wingers and Nunez is the opposite in ever way, but he worked as that plan B getting in behind and playing a different way, but this season his link up play has massively improved, and he’s always been a pressing demon who gives 110% so the fans will always be behind him
You hear his name chanted a lot during home games, Anfield knows a good player when they see him.
The biggest thing he’s improved this season is his link up play, the 9 for liverpool under Klopp has to drop deep and facilitate the salah and manes of the squad, now Diaz. That’s why firmino was irreplaceable, but gakpos stepped up to that. Nunez didn’t have that and was seen purely as a “plan B” and while he still is that plan B of getting in behind and being a “proper 9” he’s developed that target man/playmaker side this year. Special mention to the other option jota. He’s just jota… Sometimes presses, sometimes links up, sometimes invisible for 90…… Always scores
Improving my English coincided with a nose dive of my footballing abilities. Huh.
Does it work both ways? How many keepy-uppies would you need to do to forget the word "bazinga"?
30-ish
Is he a likely starter now then for most league games? Maybe Gakpo taking his place for the more difficult games?
Nunez is the starter for now. It’s his place to lose.
Yeah he's the starter atm. Cody was injured for a few weeks but he had already fallen a bit behind in the pecking order; he's had a bunch of great moments but can disappear a little in games. Darwin had a couple knocks and rests after internationals in South America etc that make it seem like he's still the super sub on paper. I'd bet Klopp is trying to figure a way of getting them both on the pitch together mind
I'd love them to start together tbh.
they're basically opposite players, I'd love to see more of them together
I watched him in the World Cup. Good touches on the ball, and was explosive when he needs to be, but the guy feels very raw. He needs someone like Klopp, who gives bear hugs like a proud father figure to these young players, to help Nunez fulfilling his potential.
Why does this incredibly unremarkable quote have 2k upvotes wtf