Arne Slot Gives Glowing Verdict On Darwin Nunez Despite Lack Of Goals This Season
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has defended Darwin Nunez, who has been criticised on social media for failing to score goals in the Reds' last six matches across all competitions. Nunez's work rate has, however, been lauded by Slot throughout the campaign.
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The 25-year-old has scored only three goals in 19 appearances for the Reds. He spurned several chances during Liverpool's 1-0 victory over Girona in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The absence of Diogo Jota for the past few weeks due to injury handed Nunez a golden opportunity to shine after only making one Premier League start for Slot before late October. Jota alongside Federico Chiesa could be back in the squad for Fulham on Saturday.
Slot, speaking at his pre-match press conference, backed Nunez to continue working hard for the team and will not only be judged on goals. The Dutchman said: "For me he has an impact. If you only look at goals, he hasn't scored as many as he wants to score or we want a number nine to score.
"But he does have impact in his work rate and that's not just to prevent the other team from making a chance, but also for us when we lose the ball to be aggressive and we can get the ball back and create chances.
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"He's part of a team that scores a lot of goals and is winning a lot, but of course as a number nine you want to score more goals, that's definitely what he wants. I'm not only judging Mo (Salah) or Darwin on goals, I also judge on their work rate and what they bring to the team. That has been positive until now, except for us and him wanting to score more goals."
Slot added: "Maybe because the fans support him so much, he wants it almost too much, to score that goal for the fans and for himself. All the players feel the support of our fans but he's definitely one of them.
"And if you're in a good place, so Mo, for example. He has the support of the fans but he doesn't really need it right now. But what I like about the fans is, they are not only supportive if it's going really well but especially if he needs that support. That's what makes our fans so special.
"It's not just him. When you miss the chances he did on Tuesday, everybody then needs an arm around you, whether it's from a team-mate, from the fans or the manager.
"That's clear, but I also made it clear to him, he's not only judged on the goals he scores but on the team performance. He adds something to the team performance with his work rate, and how much he does for us winning the ball back high up the pitch.
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"Ideally he would have scored a few more goals but maybe in a few weeks you'll ask me why Mo isn't scoring anymore and Darwin is scoring every week.
"It's the life of a number nine. Sometimes you score, sometimes you don't, but what should always be there is work rate and he has had that, apart from two games. First one against Las Palmas (in pre-season) and then the last half hour against Girona, wasn't up to standards he should have and that was due to the disappointment he had after missing chances."
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LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli