Alan Shearer has praised one particular trait about Darwin Nunez and urged the Liverpool striker to ‘continue’ showing it for his club.
The 24-year-old didn’t get on the scoresheet in the 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday, but his relentless work ethic ran the Gunners’ defence ragged and caught the eye of the Premier League’s record goalscorer.
Speaking on punditry duty for BBC Sport, Shearer said of the Uruguayan (via Liverpool Echo): “The one thing I do like about him is he never ever shies away; that doesn’t stop him getting in there, and that has got to continue.
“What also has to continue is he has to work on his finishing and his numbers have to be better because the chances that he gets, he missed far too many.”
Nunez has faced a ton of criticism over his finishing ability throughout his time at Liverpool, and an underperformance of his xG by 3.6 in the Premier League this season (FBref) indicates that he needs to be more clinical with the chances that he gets.
However, it’d be unfair to brand him primarily as a profligate waster of scoring positions, as there was still plenty to like about his performance against Arsenal yesterday.
As per Sofascore, he made three clearances and executed two key passes, going very close with one chance early in the second half which would’ve been a stunning goal had it gone on. He also worked tirelessly out of possession when switched to the left wing after half-time.
As Shearer rightly says, Nunez is always looking to get into positions to score, even if his finishing touch is deserting him. It’d be easy for the 24-year-old to become disillusioned and shy away from the ball when things aren’t going his way, but that’s not his style – he constantly wants to be in on the action.
Like Michael Jordan once said, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take’. So long as the Uruguayan continues to live by that mantra, he’ll always have the opportunity to score crucial goals for Liverpool, even if he’s not always as clinical as we’d like.
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Nunez is not the finished product yet….indeed he HAS to get his goal numbers up. That’s why Liverpool can’t RELY on him as their goal getter,…LFC need a ruthless finisher and that’s why I punt Mbappe at all costs!! With Trent moving to midfield and Liverpool getting one attacking midfielder, a RB to replace Trent and a CB, with that midfield, LFC are good for the EPL AND UEFA Championship titles!!