ARNE SLOT may yet live to regret ignoring the blindingly obvious — that Darwin Nunez cannot be trusted.
Some of the Kop may still see the Uruguayan as a sort of cult villain, Scouse irony making the fans hate him and love him at the same time.
PALiverpool had to settle for a point after Darwin Nunez’s shocking miss[/caption]
GettyNunez somehow managed to blaze over in the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa[/caption]
ReutersArne Slot might yet have cause for concern up front[/caption]
But his glaring, open-goal miss at Villa Park has somehow helped turn an eight-point lead at the top of the Prem into what feels like a crisis.
And the days of forgiveness for Nunez will end in the stands if, once again, Liverpool blow their season.
In fact, in Slot’s case, they already appear to be over.
If the Liverpool manager is not questioning his own judgment over Nunez, he should be.
The £64million striker was forever missing barn doors under Slot’s predecessor, Jurgen Klopp — a bit like on Wednesday when he shot over in front of an open goal at 2-2.
Nunez also failed one-on-one against Aston Villa keeper Emi Martinez with, as Slot has now suggested, his head gone.
Yet a quick glance at the South American’s record should have told him that, for all his mercurial talents, there was no reliability factor and that Nunez’s head is often all over the place.
Last season as Klopp’s quadruple bid fell apart, Nunez scored only once in the last 13 games, that run starting with a 4-3 loss at Manchester United that cost them an FA Cup semi-final place.
The hitman averages less than a goal every five games this season
GettyThe Uruguayan could be giving Slot a headache[/caption]
His only strike during that collapse was in a 3-1 win over doomed Sheffield United.
The death knell to Klopp’s hopes of taking a second title away with him came in the 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace on April 14 that dropped the Reds down to third, and that was that.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
By then there had also been a 3-0 home hammering by Atalanta that saw Europa League ambitions go west at the quarter-final stage.
Klopp left in the end with only the Carabao Cup to show for his final campaign.
It will not have been lost on him that as he bade his farewells at Anfield after the last–day 2–0 win over Wolves, Nunez was the only player in a guard of honour not to applaud him.
After the shock Palace loss, one fan posted of Nunez on social media: “He’s not alone in this but he was at the scene of every crime with his big, vacant smile and chorus of approval from the Kop.
“Are we collectively insane? Because at this point I have to say, Darwin, I’m done.”
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s draw with Villa, an actual Kop cult hero in Robbie Fowler used similar language.
The 183-goal former Liverpool star said on talkSPORT: “He’s missed the target, criminally, from seven, eight yards. That can’t be happening.
“It’s a bad miss. It’s a really bad miss. Probably up there with one of the worst we’ve seen this year.
“People worry about Darwin Nunez . . . he doesn’t think about the game enough.”
Maybe Slot was worried about Nunez when he took over from Klopp — but not enough to do anything about it.
The wise thing to do would surely have been to sign another striker as the only recognised frontman in last summer’s squad was Diogo Jota.
The signs were all there for Slot from the beginning and there was plenty of money in the kitty. But he backed Nunez anyway.
And especially as the Portuguese has proven to be injury-prone.
Slot’s only summer addition was the near-invisible £10m Federico Chiesa — and he could yet pay for not adding more firepower.
Nunez posted a “resilience” message on social media yesterday, saying he will never give up as a Liverpool player. But that will not cut it with Slot. Not now.
The attacker has scored only six times this season over 35 games, four in the Prem.
Since his arrival from Benfica in 2022 he has made 131 appearances yet has a mere 24 league goals and 15 in other competitions.
The signs were all there for Slot from the beginning and there was plenty of money in the kitty.
But he backed Nunez anyway and their eight-point lead could be five if Arsenal beat West Ham tomorrow.
Liverpool will have again played a game more after facing Manchester City on Sunday.
GettyNunez failed to get the better of Emi Martinez and Co on Wednesday[/caption]
Another defeat would prove Slot’s machine is breaking down — having already dropped points in the Merseyside derby and struggled through a 2-1 win over Wolves.
There was also the ten–change FA Cup humiliation by Plymouth Argyle, with Nunez playing the last 32 minutes of that 1–0 defeat.
The Kop boss reminded everybody as he looked ahead to the City clash that his side are now unbeaten in 22 Prem games.
But he will not need reminding Liverpool have not won a league game at the Etihad since 2015.
And Arsenal are due at Anfield on May 10.
By then the top of the table could look dramatically different.
And what looks like blind faith in Nunez may have proved to be a bad case of short-sightedness on Slot’s part.
Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
