Liverpool manager Arne Slott says striker Darwin Nunez “almost wants to score too much” as he has been criticized for his performances at the club.
Nunez has been in poor form this season, making 19 appearances for Slaughter and scoring just three goals.
He has started eight of Liverpool’s last 11 games in the absence of Diogo Jota – who is likely to return against Fulham this weekend after recovering from a rib injury – but He failed to truly establish himself as the No. 9 player.
The 25-year-old looked disappointed when he was taken off after missing a number of chances in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Girona on Tuesday night, but Slott insists people are not just saying enough about him Just his goal scoring performance.
“For me, he was influential,” the Liverpool boss said at a press conference on Friday. “If you just look at the goals scored, he didn’t score the goals he wanted, or we wanted our No.9 to score, but he did have an impact on his work rate.
“He was part of a team that scored a lot of goals and won a lot of wins. But, of course, as a No.9 you want to score goals and that’s definitely what he wants. I’m not just in No judgment [Salah] About his goals. I don’t just judge Darwin by his goals. I judge them on their productivity and what they bring to the team, which so far has been positive.
“Maybe it’s also because the fans are very supportive of him, maybe he wants to score goals too much for himself and the fans because they have always been very supportive of him.”
After the win over Girona, Nunez appeared to acknowledge recent criticism of his performance, writing in an Instagram post: “They are not all, they are just some. Thank you Reds for the support, we are still together.”
Asked if Nunez’s status was affected by the outside noise, Sloter said: “We all saw when he missed the opportunity on Tuesday that it took a little toll on him. I think everybody needs someone to hug him. They, whether it’s from teammates, fans or their managers.
“But I also made it clear to him that he will not only be judged by the number of goals he scores, but also by the performance of the team and that he adds something to the performance of the team. Ideally, he can Score a few more goals, but that’s the most important thing.
