As long as it’s not whatever Cucurella was wearing…
2 Likes
Who knows, maybe if he slips while taking the shot it might actually go in! Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it 
2 Likes
And that tonight is, unfortunately, another clear example of a lack of quality (and also in my opinion a ceiling that is not as high as some believe).
Not only in finishing, visible in xG’s or xA’s, but overall football aspects.
2 Likes
He actually appears to be regressing. His confidence must be shot.
1 Like
I feel his style doesn’t suit our new patient build up, seems we need someone more of a Bobby type player
I thought it was fairly obvious that Núñez hasn’t been achieving his xG? I even pointed out that this season has seen a blunting in his attacking stats, pointing out how with his not particularly good conversion, his taking fewer shots also means that he consequently has less of an impact that way?
It’s odd though because we’re looking at a performance that is at least on par with 2021-22 if not better, and certainly better than last season. With other teams on 15 games we have a 4 point lead and a game in hand. If that’s not head and shoulders above the competition as it stands, then I suppose you mean something like the sheer dominance of 2019-20, which is historically atypical for any team, apart from City and their cheating.
It’s arguable that yes, he should be contributing far more than he has thus far, but yet it doesn’t seem to be blunting us that much.
That Reddit thread that I posted does point out that Salah mentioned how he knows that Núñez isn’t well-liked, so I presume that the players do at least know what the chatter online is.
I think if it’s the case that his confidence is gone though, at least he definitely is still trying constantly.
One thing I noticed in my intermittent watching of the game was that he seems to have a much smaller area to roam when we’re passing the ball around to try to find an opening. Salah and Díaz seem to get much more freedom than he does to come out and get the ball, and Firmino certainly had more. I don’t remember our games with Jota so far this season, so I’m wondering if it’s a tactical instruction or if it’s just his choice to keep staying there. I don’t think I saw him leave the penalty box at all when we were trying to find an opening through their bus.
I see Virg always gives him an aggressive slap on the back when he does something well - eg., that tackle against Newcastle, or the goal he “stole” from Mo (against Villa, maybe?), where Darwin seemed a little shy to take credit and Virg told him it was all his.
2 Likes
Fairly obvious, but something you left out when using stats to try and prove your point, when the point from most is that Darwin isn’t clinical.
4 points isn’t head and shoulders above and with a clinical goal scorer or a Bobby type, I BELIEVE, we would have a bigger gap.
Well, we haven’t had a Lucas for quite a while… Only this version of him cost a hell of a lot more and probably won’t ever have his six months of unplayability and fame and stick around for ten years. For what it’s worth, I really liked Lucas - and I really like(d) Darwin and wanted us to sign him on the back of those two games against Liverpool… But he’ll never come good for us, won’t he?
His facial expression when he got subbed… He looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. I felt really sad about him. I genuinely wouldn’t begrudge him a move to another club (hopefully outside of PL) where he would rebuild his self-confidence and rediscover his finishing. He’s a trier but sometimes you just have to accept that it won’t happen, not at Liverpool.
2 Likes
You can see a world where her goes to a club (probably Spanish speaking) where they build the team around his attributes, and he starts banging the goals in. That’s not going to happen here though so the question is whether he can adapt to Slot’s system. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen sadly
1 Like
During the first few games this season, he hardly played because Jota was the starter.
With Jota’s injury, he had a lot of chances to show his worth and the fans are always behind him. The fans do see he’s giving it all his effort but mostly it’s not happening so far.
Now with reports that Jota may return soon, he may run out of chances very soon but he will still get them as a substitute. I’m supporting him while he’s wearing our no 9
1 Like
¡Quizás deberíamos aprender español!
Would you learn Spanish for 34 goals a season?
It was implied, given that I mentioned that his xG was elite, but his scoring numbers have been on par with our forwards of recent history.
EDIT: I just found this.
In the Nottingham Forest game in which the team struggled as a whole? Or the Arsenal game where it was quite even to begin with? Or the Newcastle game where in the end we dropped points because of an error? Given what you’re saying here, your belief is that either a clinical goalscorer would have helped us out by converting more chances, or a Firmino-type would have helped us create more chances. In each of those games, it’s unlikely the former would have made a huge difference, given the struggle to create opportunities to begin with. Even Jota and Salah, supposed to be leagues ahead of Núñez in finishing struggled with those. For the latter, it’s more hypothetical, and I can see the case for that, although I don’t know it would have helped us that much in the case of Arsenal where we couldn’t really get a control of the game. Forest has faded from my memory so I can’t really comment, but Newcastle? Plenty of times we struggled against teams like that with the actual peak Firmino, so I’m not sure how big a difference that would have made…
To me it looked more like frustration with his evening, but that’s precisely my point with regard to perceptions I guess.
Oh please let this be the kiss of @Nikola
1 Like
Andy Carroll is playing his football at Bordeaux now , in the third tier of the French league. On his last two performances , Nunez wouldn’t look out of place there too.
3 Likes
He’s had plenty of time to adjust and improve but it seems that the PL is just not for him. We should cut our losses and let him go in the new season if possible and replace with someone who suits Slot’s style of play. I just hope we don’t hold on to him like we did with Naby and Ox.
1 Like
Who’s going to buy him?
Someone who play a system that he is suited to? Didn’t Benfica play him in a front two?
I think there would be lots of clubs interested. He has all the physical attributes, good attitude, loved by team mates. There’s bound to be a coach who thinks he can get some goals out of him. We won’t recoup £75m but I’d take 30-40m at this stage
2 Likes
Reckon Simeone would love him at Atletico
3 Likes