Jurgen Klopp witnessed his side fall to a 1-0 defeat against Austrian champions RB Salzburg last night despite the Reds dominating the hosts for the majority of the contest.
The Merseysiders failed to find the back of the net in what was a somewhat feisty and frustrating encounter.
Our German boss decided to start Darwin Nunez alongside the likes of Harvey Elliott, Naby Keita and James Milner, but the Uruguay international struggled to make his mark on the game following his four goals against RB Leipzig last week, and Klopp decided to discuss the former Benfica man following the match.
“He had his moments and nearly scored,” the former Borussia Dortmund boss told LFCTV (via @lfc_tactics on Twitter).
“But he needs much more support around him. You keep other players busy that you cannot focus on him.
“[There are] so many things, second half if Darwin would’ve been there in the box, stuff like that, that obviously would’ve helped as well… yeah, it is like it is.”
The 23-year-old struck the bar with a stunning effort early on, but was replaced at half time by Bobby Firmino.
It’s important to remember that the clash was just a pre-season friendly and our new No. 27 earned another valuable 45 minutes ahead of this weekend’s Community Shield clash, but it would’ve been interesting to see how the Uruguayan would’ve performed had he featured in the second half instead.
Many of our stars were introduced either at half time or on the hour mark as we chased an equaliser.
Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz were some of the faces that entered the fray and forced Salzburg to defend on the edge of their own box.
We began playing some exceptional football and calved the Austrians open with ease, but due to the low block that was implemented, the goal of course didn’t come.
But had Nunez been in an around the six-yard box for one of the many chances in the second half, Klopp clearly feels that he would’ve scored and we potentially would’ve won the game.
Coming up against a low block is a familiar occurrence for Klopp’s side nowadays, most sides in the Premier League, except Manchester City, will have 10 men behind the ball and will make life difficult for us again this season.
It’s down to us to find ways to break them down… Nunez may very well be the answer.
You can catch Klopp speaking below via @lfc_tactics on Twitter:
Interesting comment from Klopp
In the first half when the spaces were there for Darwin, the support wasn't consistent (though there was some). In the second when the support was there and the space wasn't, Darwin wasn't playing.
Nunez vs the low block will be an interesting one pic.twitter.com/TIdggZLhD0
— Tactics LFC (@lfc_tactics) July 27, 2022