We certainly didn’t sign him on the basis of one aspect of his game, which was also coming from a weaker league.
Yeah, I recall that the season before we signed him he had a golden patch where his strike rate was way up and he was far exceeding his xG numbers. There was a good amount of concern that we were being tricked into spending big money because of what was surely an unsustainable period of overperformance. The data guys though were reported to have insisted the more complex underlying data they were primarily interested in was relatively stable across his time at Benfica and so the temporarily elevated strike rate was just a bonus and not what was driving our decision.
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I still think it’s very notable that in what’s been said about the internal decision-making around him by the people involved is that the main issue with him would be that we would have to change how we played. Ironically for me I think for the most part he’s adapted to that rather well, it’s just in particular his finishing letting him down.
I also think that if not for the hefty price tag, there would be a lot fewer harsh things said about him.
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It’s right to be concerned about Isak’s fitness or his price. But he is clearly one of the best finishers in the world right now. In PL, Isak, Kane and Son are three best shooters in last 10 years.
He outperforms his xG every single year in his career. Compare Nunez’s finishing is laughable.
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Technically I guess, but otherwise not really? He’s good, but he’s not consistently exceeding his xG by that significant an amount. Perhaps 1 per season.
It’s the rightmost column you want. I’d say that for the most part Jota has him beat:
Can’t really compare stats for Núñez because FBref only has his Liverpool career:
EDIT:
Guess who?
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Get Chris Wood signed….
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If we take xG out/under-performance, perhaps not?
How about this (not so) lethal finisher?
Last one and I’m done for now, this is supposed to be one of the most lethal finishers in the world, I think?
Sorry for missing that he underperformed for 1 of his 7 or 8 seasons 
Jota is a good one; we always praise his shooting but not Nunez, for sure.
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How about this not-such-a goal machine?
Or this one?
My point is pretty much that it’s quite a blunt metric and probably not the best one at all. If you take tons of low-quality shots, then your xG will add up, even though in the end they weren’t the best chances. If the goalkeeper you face is having a good day and you have 10 shots saved, your stats would be shit too.
If you look at Isak’s bad season, it was 4 goals from 71 shots. That’s 0.056 shots per goal. Should Núñez be doing better? Probably. But that’s also reflected in how he’s only taken 30 shots this season.
It’s only one of many metrics you’d like to look at in combination.
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The chance of Nunez turning his career around is the same as the chance of Trent playing for us next season. No matter how much you believe, it’s not gonna happen.
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We need a ‘fox-in-the-box’ :0)
Long time since I heard that saying
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Stats alone aren’t the reason why a player is chosen by teams.
The thing with Darwin and maybe Jota, they aren’t getting the chances regularly that they used to get and then seem to snatch at the ones they get.
Is this down to tactics, the way the opposition now defends against us or is it just that they aren’t suitable for how we currently play?
When you look at the attacking stats for us in the Premier League, we well above the other teams attacking wise.
For me it is a combination of all 3.
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Please let’s not forget that the strikers themselves are also part of creating chances, it’s not only finishing that matters. They are or should be part of the whole general attacking phase. And no, you don’t have to be only Bobby Firmino to do that. It’s not black and white, who does what on the pitch.
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Nunez’s problem is very similar to Lukaku’s; they have everything except the fundamental aspect: proper ball control. Too many times he messes up with a bad touch. Nunez could dominate lower leagues like Lukaku, but fixing his first touch and ball control is impossible at his age.
For us now, most of the time we’ll face deep defensive lines, with little space and time for our center-forward. I think having someone with good technique is critical. With the limited time and space opponents give us, keeping possession is already a hard task, let alone scoring.
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It’s a spell in my view for Jota.
Whether the injury he had has changed him permanently or it’s something he will get over, also didn’t his wife have a child. Probably keeping him up all night.
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It is such a shame that this guy who had the makings of having the adulation of the fans… yet it seems, any connection to him has now petered out to zilch feelings anymore..
There was a weird thing going around on twitter last week about what a starting XI would like if it was made up different animals. I got into a fight with a guy for misusing the fox he had picked as a 10. The joke did not land.
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Oh go on, I’m genuinely intrigued.
Is that true of the Anfield-going fans?
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Yes a percentage still hold out hope he will come good, but I think it is a slow burn to realisation… To me, Darwin looks a tad disinterested in being at Anfield