Michael Owen has claimed that Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez plays like he has ‘hardly been coached’ during the early part of his career.
The former England striker added that there are ‘so many mistakes’ in Nunez’s game and he can’t believe the rawness of his play because he is from South America.
Jurgen Klopp had his head in his hands once again on Monday night because he watched his side crumble out on the pitch during their defeat at Brentford.
Whilst Nunez isn’t the issue at the club, the 23-year-old’s not helping matters because he still missed a number of guilt-edge chances during that game.
For some, the big-money summer signing should be more finely-tuned, whilst others think he will explode after he has had 12 months of Premier League action.
Former Reds striker Owen is in the camp that Nunez will come good down the line after he compared the player to Chelsea legend, Didier Drogba, as he told Premier League Productions (02/01/23 at 5:05 pm.
“I think this lad has got so much raw ability,” said Owen. “He makes so many mistakes. I can’t believe he is so raw, at the moment.
“From that part of the world, I expect people to be really street-wise there, like Suarez. They almost know so much about the game, the real feel and tenacity of the game. It looks like he has hardly been coached a lot of the time throughout his career. I think Liverpool can coach him in the right way and get some experience.
“I almost liken him to Drogba. Not the way he plays. But when he first joined the league, lots of people laughed at him. Lots of people criticised him. He had a poor touch and all these things and he made poor decisions, then he turned out to be one of the best strikers we have seen in the Premier League.
“I think this lad has got similar and raw ingredients to be that. But he is a mile off it, at the moment.”
KLOPP’S COACHING STAFF SHOULD BE TRUSTED
Even though Nunez is lacking that killer instinct and he does seem to be doing everything at 100 miles per hour, those coaching him at Anfield should be trusted.
If he gets that composure and simplicity to his game in the final third, then he will prove to be lethal.
It doesn’t help Nunez that Liverpool have so many issues behind him. But with Mo Salah next to him, he can take the majority of the goalscoring burden, whilst the £120k-a-week Liverpool man slowly cooks up a feast that will be unleashed in 12 months’ time.
Key figure who abruptly left Liverpool is now working for Man United
Liverpool were left without a permanent club doctor for five months after the August departure of Jim Moxon, who is now working with Man United.
Moxon took over as the Reds’ first-team club doctor at the beginning of 2020, following Andy Massey’s decision to take up a position with FIFA.
But after serving through an uncertain, tumultuous period with the COVID-19 pandemic, he left the club on the eve of the current campaign, with an announcement made five days before the opener at Fulham.
Since then, Sarah Lindsay and Bevin McCartan had been sharing duties, until the arrival of Jonathan Power as new full-time club doctor this month.
Though Moxon’s decision to leave is unclear, it came amid an ongoing reshuffle of the medical and fitness ranks under Jurgen Klopp.
And in the months since moving on, Moxon has taken up a position with Man United, following long-serving club doctor Steve McNally’s decision to join PGMOL.
Moxon has been working alongside McNally since December, as announced by the Manchester club, and will act as interim club doctor when McNally vacates his position this month.
Of course, club allegiances play little part in staff members taking up jobs beyond the most high-profile roles such as manager and assistant manager.
More interesting is Moxon’s motivation to leave Liverpool just before the campaign was due to get underway, having travelled with the first team throughout pre-season, including days previous.
There are suggestions of unrest as changes are brought in behind the scenes, only magnified now by the owners’ decision to seek investment and even a potential sale of the club.
The existing structure appears to be shifting, with more emphasis on Klopp and his core staff, at a time when regeneration is required on the pitch and stability off it.
Source: hitc.com
