Gakpo isn’t creating those moments though, is he?
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Scored tonight though, didn’t he?
Almost fluffed it like Nunez.
While it looked ungainly, what Gakpo didn’t do is blast it really, really hard straight at the goalkeeper. Darwin could do with thinking about that.
Think about miss hitting it instead?
Maybe not that, but he definitely needs to stop kicking it straight at the goalkeeper.
Would love for Darwin to get a couple of scuffed ugly finishes. I think it does him the world of good.
The worrying thing for me is that a goal doesn’t really seem to help his confidence. He got a cracker against Burnley, and then in the next game he spurns about four good chances. It’s maddening.
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I wrote this in the post-match thread, probably should have been here:
I’m still on the Darwin Nunez bus. He is a very important part of the group.
Should he score more? Of course! So let’s concede the main criticism at the outset. He misses too many chances. It needs to improve.
And what about the upside?
He still scores and assists, and we see a return there. He occupies defenders too. Klopp was at pains to point this out. Botman and Schar were both put through the ringer trying to stop him, and it made more space for the others, and it also made it much better for the subs to come on, as they were now up against defenders who had been run ragged.
I’m backing Nunez to add more goals. Dubravka made some great saves today and on another day Nunez scores at least a couple, but it just wasn’t falling for him.
So while we wait on the goals to flow a bit more readily - and it is a legitimate criticism - his work as a striker is of great benefit to the team, and of great benefit to the subs who come on.
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Can’t disagree with that, and he’s certainly had the fans’ backing. So frustrating. I do come back to our games against Benfica. Remember thinking he looked an incredible player and was desperate for us to sign him. Signs are still there!
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He’s a player that the opposition CB knows they’ll have a hard time against. Frustration with his finishing, but his play apart from that is just what is needed.
Emile Heskey had an amazing first season with us. He had all the physical attributes you’d want. But he lacked the killer instinct and would go into his shell.
Darwin just carries on. That will take him far.
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This is kind of begging the question - using as a given the idea that he is missing chances because of a lack of confidence.
When Kuyt was going through his roughest period (I think around the time his dad died) I saw him hide over and over again for a 4-5 month period. He’d mask it by working hard, but when we had the ball he’d disappear and hide out on the right touchline as far away from the goal as he could get. You look at that “missed chance” Darwin had at the end of the first half, where he fights to get in front of the CB to get at a cross and throws his body at the ball in the hope he can get anything on it and the keeper ends up making a save from point blank range after Darwin got his knee on it…we dont have another forward who even forces that save and that certainly isnt the sort of involvement you see from a striker who is struggling with confidence.
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Darwin is at times very frustrating to watch, but I manage to console myself with the thought that he must be an absolute bastard to play against and that in turn could relieve pressure on other players.
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As I said scoring a belter of a goal against Burnley, doesn’t really improve his composure (I’m not even sure if that is the right word). So it can’t be a confidence thing. He has no reason to feel lacking in confidence. He does get goals, despite missing bucketfuls. He still has his managers confidence. His teammates obviously trust him.
The frustrating thing about him is that it is so inexplicable.
What are we saying? He is just unlucky? Game after game after game. Missing all these chance is just a matter of luck?
I do think that it’s something related to mentality. Physically we know he can do it. We’ve seen him be unplayable and get the goals. But he misses so many it’s unreal. It’s clear the work he puts in, and as you say he does create chances that it seems only he can create. But at the point of pulling the trigger I don’t think there one fan wouldn’t wish we could swap him with Jota, Gakpo, Diaz, Salah or Elliott to just do that last putting the ball in the net bit.
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I love watching the guy play, he leaves it all out on the pitch each and every time….even when things aren’t quite clicking for him in front of goal, his resilience to carry on playing for the team with his head held up high in search of the next big chance he can play his part in.
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That was the only way to beat their keeper lol
With every passing game, I’m closer to giving up on him completely because of his inexplicably poor finishing. I wonder what the stats folks thought about him, the numbers must have been promising when they decided to make him possibly our club’s record signing but looking at what he does with presented with chances makes me think that people at Benfica are pissing themselves laughing at our club paying that kind of money for him.
I don’t believe in luck when it comes to finishing - you’re either good at it or you’re not. He definitely isn’t good enough in that aspect and if we’re to rely on him to win us games with his goals, we’re in for a world of pain.
I want to believe that he will come good soon and that the goals will start flowing for him because he’s a grafter, I love stories such as his and our team looks much better when he’s playing because opponents are focusing a lot on his physical presence and movement. However, I can’t help thinking of some modern, more powerful version of Milan Baroš when I see him - unplayable for country but wildly inconsistent for his club.
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And that’s all that matters.
Look, we all get frustrated when he misses a sitter or strays offside unnecessarily. But he adds an extra dimension to our attack that nobody else can replicate.
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Even missing the chances he does , he’s a guaranteed starter now. I think I’ll defer to Jurgen’s judgement.
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Be interesting to see where/how he lines up with Mo going to ACN.
Finishing isn’t the only problematic thing with him.
There are crystal clear reasons why it’s also finishing and it’s technique. Which is pretty erratic, not consistent enough. Doesn’t strike me as a very clever guy either.
There’s more damage in missing simpler chances than there is value in scoring a banger every once in a while.
Then, there is still how he leads the line, how he plays in both directions, offsides, etc. Generally improved in his back to goal and how he presses (where sheer runs and sprints isn’t enough, it needs to be done smartly). Work doesn’t stop there though.
From the initial fear how him and Salah would work together, I came to a point where I worry how Nunez will look without Salah (if Nunez gets there in the first place).
He cannot get, say, 5 of his 6 years from us for it to properly happen. At some point we’ll have to decide whether he’s worth building our new attack around (especially post-Mo).
The future doesn’t depend on him. We’ve had serious flops, we’ve had mixed successes, we’ve had top players. Nunez always struck me as something in between. Good with potential to be very good. And that might not be enough, if you want to win the biggest prizes.
So it’s really not difficult for me to remain objective. I want success at Liverpool, don’t care one bit with which individuals, what their names are.
This. For quite a while, there have been just a few individuals in this Liverpool team that I really care about on the level of a kid who would put up their posters on the wall. Klopp is obviously untouchable and on a completely different level to anyone else associated with this club aside from Kenny, while Alisson, Van Dijk, Trent, Robbo and Salah are really, really close. I loved Mane more than any single player of ours, though.
But is that enough in the long term? He was brought to score goals, not “create chaos” as Liverpool fans on social media like to put it. I haven’t heard so many excuses made for a Liverpool player in ages - and I was firmly in that camp for quite a while.
To put it bluntly, I wish him all the luck in the world, I wish he scored 200 goals for Liverpool in his career but I don’t even see him getting to twenty this season in all competitions. If our club was offered a chance to replace him with a better player at a minimal loss, I’d be happy if they took it. He’s a good lad, his heart is there but he’s just too consistent in missing good chances. You don’t win trophies with such a player as your main striker.
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