Darwin Nunez has attracted a great deal of criticism beyond the borders of Merseysider for his debut campaign in England – one marred somewhat by Liverpool’s struggles on the pitch amid an ongoing midfield crisis.
You’d struggle to find any keen to criticise the Reds’ resident chaos-maker, however; the Uruguayan remains a strong fan favourite at Anfield and on the road, having borne himself into the hearts of the L4 faithful.
Having not started a game since the goalless draw at Stamford Bridge, however, some might be wondering why Jurgen Klopp has since reduced the No.27 to cameo appearances – the answer may have been relayed by Paul Gorst on Twitter during the German’s latest pre-match presser.
Klopp on Nunez: "Darwin is a player with diff skills to others, that's good. A machine. Scored a decent number but his English is not great, we're working on it. Not helpful for a debut season in difficult season for all. He's a long-term project. I understand he wants to play."
— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) April 21, 2023
To have still registered 19 goal contributions in 37 games (across all competitions) this term (equating to a goal or assist every 113.57 minutes) in one of our lesser campaigns under the former Borussia Dortmund boss – AND whilst still getting to grips with the language – suggests that Nunez should be cut some slack.
READ MORE: Real Madrid table ‘lucrative offer’ for £180,000-a-week Liverpool ace – Football Insider
READ MORE: What De Zerbi told Moises Caicedo about future exit amid Liverpool links
Once the ex-Benfica hitman gets another pre-season under his belt, hopefully, he’ll have spent some extra time finetuning his English in order to get the most out of the manager’s instructions and improve communication with his teammates, which will surely have a positive impact on performances.
If Klopp feels that, in the meantime, the striker would benefit from some time on the bench, then so be it.
We still know we’ve got an absolute monster on our hands who could take the Premier League by storm in 2023/24 with a fully-functioning midfield behind him.