Liverpool Banter

22 Apr 2024 21:43:41
ED01 - how important do you think the name is, of who we appoint next? Klopp had that special aura about him and was a known quantity. How much do players join because of the club itself or due to who the manager is? I'm sure we could give a less known manager like Arne Slot a chance and we'd still be able to attract top players. Although, I genuinely believe we have the players to do well after Klopp has gone.

{Ed001's Note - the name is irrelevant, I know some players joined because of Klopp, but that was because he sold the club to them, not because of his name. Those same players would not have joined Klopp at say Forest or West Ham.}

23 Apr 2024 06:54:49
It reinforces the original post then, Klopp has a bigger pull than any other the other candidates. We’re finished.

{Ed025's Note - its the end of the world as we know it.. :)

22 Apr 2024 18:25:37
In defence of Nunez, the team have been taking one too many touches of the ball. Nunez is on his way and is caught offside because one pass or one touch too many has put him in the position of being offside. We do not play the lad correctly, we do not use his pace to his advantage.

22 Apr 2024 18:52:59
Remember the roy Keane quote about haalands all round game being that of a league 2 players? It's like Nunez is the opposite.

He's strong, fast, can dribble well and has bags of strength and stamina but his shooting and general play in the final third is worse than league 2 standard.

You should at least be hitting the target or making a pass as a principal and I don't think mentally you can teach composure you either have it or you don't.

Not knocking the guy he works tremendously hard and is a loveable bloke but if we want to be winning premier leagues and big cups he can't be relied on.

22 Apr 2024 19:30:20
Three paragraphs criticizing Nunez then saying not knocking the guy, brilliant 😂.

22 Apr 2024 19:19:41
I like Nunez but he’s more bullet proof than a Kevlar vest.

Yes not every time he’s offside might not be his fault but he has to take some accountability as well.

Yesterday one of his offsides was from Sakah’s first time touch pass so you can’t get any quicker ball release than that.

The other forwards manage to time their runs regardless of how quick we’re playing it.

Nunez has been offside 41 times this season with the next highest being Salah at 18 and Diaz at 17.

22 Apr 2024 19:43:00
Salah not Sakah. Bloody phone.

22 Apr 2024 20:16:03
I think you’ll find JK that Nunez had made the run to take the pass before the ball went to Salah. The fact that the ball went via Salah and not directly through to Nunez meant he’d run offside.

I think in general we’ve started to take too many touches as if no one wants to take risks with the ball. It normally means that everything closes up in front of the player with the ball and he has to go sideways or backwards to keep possession.

If we started popping it around at pace then Nunez wouldn’t be offside half as much. He’ll always get caught offside occasionally because he likes to run in behind but we need to be much quicker in all aspects of our play to get the best out of him.

22 Apr 2024 20:38:51
Well I’m glad that’s been cleared up. 41 times it’s been the passers fault.

I’m probably going to stop going to live matches now and wait to be told with “I think you’ll find” on here to bring me fully up to speed.

22 Apr 2024 20:44:52
Sometimes it might be too many passes. Sometimes it's because his timing is off. Sometimes it's because he's looking right across the line but still runs offside despite being faster than 99% of defenders. I remember people saying he was very raw when he came. He's still v raw now unfortunately. Its frustrating because when he came on against Newcastle and scored those 2 clinical goals I thought yes here we go. But it hasn't really happened unfortunately. I love his enthusiasm, his fight and how unpredictable he is but he needs to score more for the amount of good chances he gets it's as simple as that.

22 Apr 2024 20:45:38
I agree, our all round play is slow, way too slow. Too much sideways and backwards, it’s painful to watch sometimes and so boring.

It is something that has been going on all season but we are now at the business end of the season and don’t seem to be able to shift up two gears when needed.

Luckily Fulham were on their holidays yesterday. Everton will be a cauldron and I hope we’re ready.

22 Apr 2024 21:44:01
All great forwards go through periods of gobbling up lots of chances. Difference with Nunez is it is not the exception, but the rule. Even when the likes of Haaland, Salah, or prime Mane have missed chances, you can usually see what they were trying to do. Nunez doesn't have a clue.

You can argue that this doesn't matter due to the net benefit he brings to the team, but we are starting to see there is only so far you can persist with that type of player. For all that he brings to our play, his incompetence in front of goal is mentally damaging to our own players and lifts the oppositions. It has now become 'a thing'. Nunez begins to miss one or two sitters and everybody's heads go, players and fans alike.

I don't think that is something that everyone else needs to change, it is on him to stop burning everybody's heads out. I feel that he gives encouragement to the opposition and has become detrimental to the confidence and momentum of our team. He makes it almost impossible to control football matches and I think the very least that he needs is a spell coming off the bench. In the longer term, I am not sure he can be relied upon to lead the line for a top side.

Almost two years here and he hasn't had one single commanding, dominant performance where everything goes well for him. Just splitters and false starts, a late goal here, an assist there. For as much as he puts himself about, I just don't feel it is enough.

22 Apr 2024 22:00:28
Hit a nerve JK?

I think you’ll find that I did say he will get caught offside anyway because he likes to run in behind. Any player that plays on the shoulder of the last defender is bound to be caught offside more than a player who comes deep. It’s logical.

We do pass the ball slowly, anyone with any sense can see that. That doesn’t mean and nor did I suggest that it’s the passers fault every time.

Why can’t it just be a bit of both rather than just hammering the lad every time he gets caught offside? In the instance you mentioned there was a straight pass on to Nunez so he makes the run but the ball is played to Salah first who then plays it first time but by this time he’s run offside. I was just correcting your obvious misjudgement of the situation.

He’s not perfect by any stretch but there are way too many fans these days that choose to focus on any negative aspect of a player rather than looking at his positive attributes. It’s the world we live in unfortunately.

22 Apr 2024 22:48:09
Not at all.

I’ve hardly hammered him. I regularly praise the lad as well as the rest of the players.

You always seem to be correcting people on here.

“I was just correcting your obvious misjudgement of the situation” I doubt you could get any more condescending if you tried.

23 Apr 2024 00:33:26
Just being honest about his game but the Nunez fan club seems any criticism of his game a vendetta. Nunez is fine if we want to compete with spurs and co for top four to win the league we need better.

23 Apr 2024 03:19:58
I think if we are being honest with ourselves then we can admit that Nunez is a very good player, but he isn’t a world class player and will likely never be. He isn’t composed enough, nor deadly enough, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be an effective player for us - simply means we need to play a system and players that spreads the goals around (which we do to be fair) .

22 Apr 2024 08:00:36
Scout note - Liked the look of Traore of Wolves last night, great hair, lovely long legs. But seriously, looked a tidy player and in a position we need, as does Nouri. They seem to find a few gems at Wolves along with Hwang Neto Cunha.

22 Apr 2024 09:13:01
Can’t be finding too many gems tho as I can’t think of too many of their players that moved to bigger clubs and been successful so far.

22 Apr 2024 09:21:46
Can Nouri play wither wingback position? tidy player that.

22 Apr 2024 09:58:34
Ait Nouri is a quality left back. We should be considering him.

21 Apr 2024 14:57:34
Fresh start for me with Nunez.

I’ve been critical
I’ve been called out
So I’ve been reviewing his game and his chances.

I don’t think he’s a left winger, I think he’s target man.
I agree with those who say our tactics don’t suit him.
I think he’s a player who likes the ball in in front of him, to run on to or to go past a defender/ keeper.

His game is absolutely not suited to tight spaces and quick reactions in the box, he likes time and space and that’s when he’s at his best.

So I’m not going to go on about him missing those kind of chances any more. It’s not his game.
New manager, new philosophy. Today is a fresh start for me.

I’m quite hopeful for Arne Slot and I think he might bring the best out of Darwin.
He’s a tactician and a technician. I think Portugal is too easy and therefore I fear Amorim is untested in this aspect.

Anyway - Nunez fresh start.
Kudos to those who called me out 👍.

21 Apr 2024 15:22:14
Good on you Ron and fair play mate.

Although, manager wise I would have to disagree. In my opinion, the Dutch league is worse than the Portuguese league, as at least in Portugal you have 3 very good teams whereas I think there is only 1 in erediverse at the moment with Ajax in a slump.

Might be unfair, but Arne Slot just gives me Ten Haag vibes.

21 Apr 2024 15:29:34
All leagues are weak compared to the premier league supposedly.

Despite there not being a single English team left in the CL and Europa. The good old farmers league of Germany are doing ok in both mind.

21 Apr 2024 15:40:08
Today is a fresh start. Bench 😂.

21 Apr 2024 15:55:15
I don't like him. I hope he's moved on.

21 Apr 2024 16:56:25
😁 bench at the beginning, super sub scorer 👍.

21 Apr 2024 17:04:50
Our attack is much better without him as today's proving.

21 Apr 2024 17:33:48
How is our attack better without him, we have hardly made a chance from open play!

21 Apr 2024 18:11:53
That's down to the midfield. Gakpo has been constantly hitting the target at least and Jota played well. Nunez comes in misses a sitter and gets caught offside straight away. What's good about him?

21 Apr 2024 18:48:07
I’m a huge Jota fan but he was probably our poorest player in the first half. Possibly down to not being match fit or match sharp.

Then 2nd half he gets that chance on his weaker foot goes a tight angle and puts it away.

Nunez who I also like comes on and that angle finish he produces is poor.

He’s then caught offside needlessly twice and doesn’t really get involved much more.

I’ve seen it said we need to release Nunez quicker but he’s offside once from Salah who plays the ball first time on the break. You cannot okay it any quicker than first time.

Nunez has played a lot of football recently so if he gets a few games out the starting one up now might work in his favour.

21 Apr 2024 19:00:02
If the Portuguese league is too easy but you're giving nunez a chance but not the manager. where do you think nunez played his football.

21 Apr 2024 19:31:25
All I know is that I now want Captain Goals instead of Captain Chaos. Whether Salah stays or goes, someone else has to come up with Salah's 20-30 goals per season, which have been guaranteed for many years, and which don't look so sure anymore. Salah's goals have been crucial in keeping the club at the level it has been at, since Klopp came over.

No idea if Captain Chaos can make the switch to Captain Goals, or if a new player has to be brought in, but a change is needed. (The new manager and staff would know best) .

21 Apr 2024 20:00:49
The whole "Capt. Chaos" thingy is as much a throw-away comment as the wole idea that Klopp likes "Rock and Roll" football. It was a throw away comment he made when he was comparing the way Arsenal played under Wenger and the way he likes to what football being played as in high energy and intensity rather thn the "classical music" style Weger played.

For me, Im with Ron. Nunez is a very good CF who is a pure handful for ANY defence when on his game. That much is a fact cos we see it. Now he is not being used in the same way he was used at Benfica or how Bielsa is using him with Uruguay where he was/ is allowed freedom to roam across the front line and do damage from wide or thru the mmiddle. He isn't the leading scorer in the Suth American WC qualifiers for nothing now, is he? Or are we now saying the goalposts over there and in Portugal are bigger?

All that being said, he needs to improve his composure and most importantly his ability to strike the ball depending on where he is. Better composure will allow him to recognise that the manner the ball comes to him, dictates who he will finish the chance. For that, you need to keep calm and not press, something a certain Divock Origi was brilliant at. Regardless of the pressure and pandemonium around him, Divvy had North Pole levels of ice in his veins. Now can you coach composure? Not sure of that BUT we're going to have to give it go. Darwin in, all the way!

21 Apr 2024 20:44:36
I’m honestly starting to think the composure thing is a confidence matter.
Get the ball in front of him, getting him running on to crosses or through balls, then he’ll work on instinct.

21 Apr 2024 21:17:48
In fact Ron, use him a bit like City do with Haaland as the focal point of attacks. Our current focal points seem to be out wide with Salah and Diaz but they are playing too far from goal at the moment.

21 Apr 2024 21:33:17
Nunez’s confidence is on the floor atm. Doubt he starts v Everton but just hope he scuffs one in to get him going. Has to massively improve next season or his game time will become limited.

21 Apr 2024 22:12:44
"I’m honestly starting to think the composure thing is a confidence matter. "

Ron, that is definitely a good a valid conclusion to reach however, that would make total sense if he had shown a decent level of composure in the past. Alas, that has not really been the case even tho in the times he has shown composure this season, he has baged them in. That being said, I agree that his current lack of composure may be partly due to a lack of confidence.

21 Apr 2024 23:23:18
Not good enough, likeable fella but has cost us match after match. hate slating players but said all season he will cost us and he has. imagine losing the league on goal difference.

21 Apr 2024 23:45:27
Always knew you had love for Nunez Ron :) - Good post mate.

21 Apr 2024 23:53:03
Of course it’s a confidence issue. He’s not played top level football very long, he was a bit of a late bloomer.

He then comes to one of the biggest clubs in the world in the biggest league in the world where the pressure and scrutiny is like nothing he’s even experienced before.

We know the ability is there, we seen it with some of the amazing goals he’s scored for us but the problem is that if he misses a chance it’s headline news.

Even today, Mo played the ball too far in front of him and Neville was saying he should’ve slid to get the ball. He couldn’t get there, there was too much pace on the ball but that doesn’t fit the agenda.

So every time he gets a chance he knows he must score or the media will be full of how he missed a chance again so guess what? He tenses up and misses the chance.

That’s why I pushed back when Ron was critical of Nunez. If even his own fans can’t cut him some slack then how is he ever going to get out of this cycle? Just think how much pressure that is when not only the media and rival fans are making memes out of every time you miss a chance but your own fans are making fun of you too?

I really like him, he has everything we just need to stick with him and I think we’ll have a special player on our hands.

22 Apr 2024 00:22:25
I don’t love him, I just think I’ve been harsh on him. We’re not using him properly.

Our success was built on Mane and Salah banging the goals in whilst Bobby was moving defenders around or playing clever passes in tight spaces. Bobby was never a target man or even the focal point of the attack. Salah was. If Salah was tied up then Mane took over.

Nunez is no Bobby. Completely different player. But we haven’t really adapted our set up to optimise Nunez.
That’s why I want to see what he can do with a new coaching team and a new philosophy.

22 Apr 2024 00:41:36
Nunez has cost us no more than our porous defence has. Everyone saying our current tactics doesn't suit him, which I agree with, but he's still banged in 18 goals and he will make it 20 before season end. That's good any year.
He's already good, he will get better when we play to his strengths. Blokes got everything, pavez power, heightz good jump, gets stuck in and most importantly he doesn't let his misses stop him trying again. He is good, will get better and in a couple of seasons I'll be laughing at you all saying how vital he is to us when he gets injured just like I do after sticking up for Jota all these years when he was the easy target for 'reasons'.

22 Apr 2024 07:54:17
Play him as an out and 9 like Torres and he bangs in a lot more goals.

22 Apr 2024 08:42:33
Spot on, Westwood666. Saying a sigle player cost us the title or Cup or whatever is siomething from the depths of pure hatred and a lack of understanding of the fundame, tals of team sport. People who say that are those I have NO time for cos trust me, I would lose my will to live.

As for your take on Darwin, I have NOTHING more to add. If you thought he would not improve from or that you thought he would never improve (like many of our own fans said) last year then clearly, Nunez has shut you lot up cos the facts speak for themselves.

Man's prolly going to crack 20 goals and prolly 15 assists this season (something his detractors NEVER thought he would do, btw) and these people will still moan and the loudest ones are the ones who did not want him here to begin with and are now shifting the goalposts to give him stick. Im over the Darwin hate agenda. The kid can't catch a break cos according to these lost, he can do absolutely NOTHING right in their eyes even when he does score goals. It's always "Yeah, but. ". Take day off!

22 Apr 2024 08:47:18
"We know the ability is there, we seen it with some of the amazing goals he’s scored for us but the problem is that if he misses a chance it’s headline news.

Even today, Mo played the ball too far in front of him and Neville was saying he should’ve slid to get the ball. He couldn’t get there, there was too much pace on the ball but that doesn’t fit the agenda. "


Exactly, BP. The kid cannot catch a break. As for Neville, he can give over the LFC agenda cos it's becoming tedious to deal with. Had Hojlund had the output Darwin currently has, you think he would be on him like he is on Darwin? Like you said, the ball Mo played in was not accurate enuff cos he did not bend the ball towards him. Had Darwin went early to reach it, Neville would have slated him for being offside. Had he slid and missed on the stretch, Neville would have slated him for missing. See where Im going with this?

Talking down on Darwin drives headlines as you said. Watkins and Haaland are just as wasteful as Darwin is BUT who gives a hoot about them cos it does not drive clicks and online reactions.

22 Apr 2024 08:56:04
He has played as a 9 a lot this season.

22 Apr 2024 09:14:10
Exactly Oli and he’s a 24 year old in a foreign country who doesn’t have a total grasp of the language. It’s no wonder he’s a bit nervous in front of goal, he knows that if he misses it’s feeding the haters even more and it’ll end up as a meme.

He’ll come through it I have no doubt about that but we need to stick with him. If we jump on the bandwagon and start criticising him it makes it much more difficult for him to perform.

22 Apr 2024 09:26:44
Ron - were you the ones who asked "what are Darwin's strengths"?

I may have responded to that but basically along the lines of what you're saying now. I really believe that any player can excel at a top team if they fall into the right circumstances and have the attitude.

No one can make a credible case against Darwin's attitude. Now it's about the football aspect and playing to his strengths to bring out the best in him. In saying that he's currently 18G/ 12A, hardly a lemon lol.

22 Apr 2024 09:58:14
Look every lfc fan waants it to happen for Darwin but the argument has to be balanced. Yes he has a lot of good qualities but he is also the No.9 at this great club and at the moment he misses far too many of his opportunities and can't stay onside. Unless he improves on such things he will not succeed here.

22 Apr 2024 10:15:39
Watkins has 19 goals and 12 assists in the league though so I'd imagine they paper over the cracks of his misses.

And Haaland has 56 league goals in 2 seasons.

Perhaps its because Watkins can speak the language which makes him more composed in front of goal.

Nunez does get lots more hate and criticism from pundits but considering he won't understand what their saying it shouldn't effect him so every cloud and all that.

22 Apr 2024 13:14:59
I still think his best position is from the left, where he played against us and was so good. I think him on left, Salah right n Jota through the middle we wouldn't go too far wrong. Harsh on Diaz and gakpo maybe but I think coming in from the left or destroying the full back will help his confidence and also take him slightly out of the main focal point firing line.

22 Apr 2024 16:52:19
Yes Grinch but we have two left wingers in Diaz and gakpo who are both better in said position.

22 Apr 2024 21:28:05
Faith - I did ask that but it was misinterpreted.

The purpose of the question was to find out what others see in his game which I’m missing - not “he doesn’t have any strengths”.

That’s all.