F*ck, while we’re at it, I’d like Nunez (or anyone) to have half of Beckham’s feeling how the ball behaves depending on how he strikes it. Apart from his usual full power knuckle shots into far corner in training, without defenders, with time to prepare, after which fans have a wankfest and wonder how come such a genius can’t translate it to a match.
Must be in the stars… when they align, that’ll be it.
I don’t know about Beckham’s intelligence overall, but looking at what he has achieved in football (at different clubs and international level) and life, it probably isn’t that bad.
Anyway, he can be dedicated all he wants (great), but if he thinks that giving his all mainly means to physically give his all; try to be everywhere, run everywhere, smash into everyone (and anything, like another thing called offside)… that’s not really in a quality or intelligent way.
There’s the other extreme as well, no need to mention that is also (and even more so) not good for the team.
Captain chaos is not what we need, this is not an institution for healing someone who acts like a teenage girl on her period.
I’m even pretty sure that we’re helping him as much as we can and he does as best as he knows.
Generally I don’t like the public comment, but a couple of things come to mind. First of all, the Dutch are known for being forthright. This isn’t mean or anything like that. Slot is just telling it as it is, and if he thinks the public comment about Darwin’s effort is warranted, then that’s his prerogative.
Second, it is possible that Darwin is all but out the door - terms were agreed, or near as damn it, in January. That only happens if everyone is up for the deal. Buyer. Seller. Player. And it seemed they all were, apart from timing. We did not want to leave ourselves short, and in all likelihood, the striker Slot wanted was not available in January.
So what do you do?
Well, you try to make the best of it for the rest of the season, as we have trophies to win. Darwin can be an important part of that, but only if he is putting the effort in. Slot’s man management is a bit of old fashioned carrot and stick. It’s ok if you miss a chance, it happens. That’s the carrot. Don’t worry about that side, it will come… now here’s the stick - but only if you work hard for the team in the manner we’ve seen before.
Like most others I think he’s off in summer, but in the meantime I hope Nunez has some trophies and big moments to enjoy before then.
You really think that by watching a few clips of him training, you know the full extent of his ability? You think that he’s managed to play for Liverpool and Benfica just because he can shoot hard?
I get it, there’s a lot to criticize and most of it is warranted, but this is going too far. He isn’t some dumb hack who found the door open and walked in. He isn’t the most talented, or the most attuned striker out there but there’s no reason for him not to be getting 15-20 goals a season. And yet, Danns would have probably matched his hitherto production if he was given the same opportunities.
Whatever is going on with him is not normal and it doesn’t look like it’s ever going to get resolved. It doesn’t mean though that the guy is as useless as you are making him out to be.
I was talking about one technical aspect of the game of football: shooting, or hitting the ball for different purposes (in Beckham’s perspective more to create/pass/assist, in Nunez’s more to finish/score).
We can talk about other ones if we wish to. There are plenty, better or worse. Finishing is not Nunez’s only issue. I know it’s not pleasant to read, but it’s even less pleasant to watch it, when it’s not good.
I’ve said a few times that I’ve certainly seen worse: players and transfers at this club. But that’s not a great consolation either.
I’ve heard a lot about reasons why he should be doing better than he is. All the tools he apparently has and that it’s just luck, stars, help of God almighty or whatever someone believes in that’s missing.
Nah. We would see more (and more consistent), in different aspects of his game, if that was the case. There’s a good enough sample in actions and time.
He’s not useless, but he’s not good enough. And the potential to be much better than he is in my opinion also isn’t that high as some believe.
Don’t conflate education with intelligence. He’s poorly educated but when you look at what he’s done he’s clearly got more nous than ‘two short plants’
I hope he has a couple of sweet moments between now and his expected departure. Not just with trophies, though that’s the main thing, but also personal memories where he scores a crucial goal or two along the way.
