Arne Slot does not listen to fan grumbles or pundit recommendations and, if he did, Liverpool may have suffered the shock of the season on Saturday.
‘Get Darwin Nunez off now,’ was the gist of the half-time suggestions as Liverpool put in a languid, disjointed display against rock-bottom Southampton. Luis Diaz, too, was in the firing line of the keyboard warriors on social media.
Slot, sat a few rows behind the press box in the posh seats due to his touchline ban, did not take note and with good reason as the South American duo combined more than once to spark a comeback victory.
He equally will not listen here but, Mr Slot, here is our two penneth worth: Nunez must start against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Knowing what we know about the erratic, Jekyll & Hyde striker, that could be this reporter’s worst tip of the season. And that’s coming from someone who had Arsenal to win the league and Nottingham Forest to go down!
But he would be going into the game full of confidence — which is often not the case with him — after his finest week of the season (his brace to win the game at Brentford was the best moment but he failed to back it up).
Darwin Nunez was a central figure in Liverpool’s comeback win over Southampton on Saturday
Nunez scored Liverpool’s equalising goal and earned a penalty just minutes later
Arne Slot celebrates from his position up in the stands as Liverpool go 16 points clear at the top
He demonstrated perfect No 9 play in Paris to win an aerial duel and then assist match-winner Harvey Elliott. He scored with prolific nature to equalise against Southampton on Saturday, then won a penalty for 2-1 and never stopped running.
After those two moments on Saturday, coach Johnny Heitinga called him over to the touchline. He put his hands on the Uruguayan’s cheeks, embraced him and gave him a slap or two on the bum.
He needs encouragement, does Nunez. One fan on X made the observation: ‘He is like a golden retriever trapped in a human’s body, I love the crazy man.’
Funny. He often runs around like a dog let off its leash and craves the love from those around him.
‘Nunez is like a toxic ex-partner who tries to win you over and reels you back in every time,’ read another post.
Again, very good. Whenever Liverpool fans are done with him, ready to give up on the £85million man ever succeeding, he pulls something out of his magic hat.
Those close to Nunez insist he is an emotional man. He rides the highs, like the Kop singing his name, but gets deeply hurt at criticism after a bad performance. He really does care and wants to succeed, though his future beyond this season is unclear. It is fair to say he is fighting for his elite-level career.
There are few players in the league who divide opinion quite like him. This happens on a macro level with his form going up and down across a season but also on a micro level in one match, sometimes even in a single passage of play where he will do everything right until the finish.
Nunez is shown a yellow card for taking a swipe at Kyle Walker-Peters in the first half
Nunez is embraced by Liverpool coach Johnny Heitinga after being substituted
Baffling but always good fun.
In the Parc des Princes on Wednesday last, he changed the game. He offered an outlet for Liverpool who, for most of the night, looked bereft of attacking ideas and looked down and out in Paris.
Diogo Jota, who started as the No 9, was poor. An accomplished finisher, Jota, but he has not looked the same this season due to injuries.
Likewise Diaz as a central striker. The experiment started well but he is clearly better as a left winger, though he looks tired at the moment and Liverpool could do with a positive fitness update on Cody Gakpo, who has a minor foot problem.
PSG skipper Marquinhos loved following Jota on his deep runs into midfield to receive the ball — but how did he do when Liverpool started to look for Nunez in behind? He struggled.
It stretched the game. Nunez’s off-the-ball darts may not always see him receive the ball but they help to create space for others to exploit.
The different dimension Nunez offered stopped PSG from dictating proceedings. The Parisiens made eight starting XI changes for their win over Rennes on Saturday, so will be much fresher than Liverpool, whose talisman like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk played a full 90 minutes.
Nunez is not perfect. Far from it. He is also prone to at least several moments per game that have you uttering, ‘What on earth was he thinking?’. But he is riding high on confidence at the moment… and that could hurt PSG on Tuesday night.
