Arne Slot has admitted he has failed to get the best out of Darwin Nunez at Liverpool so far, but he is backing the out-of-form Uruguayan striker to bounce back quickly.
The Reds' number 9 have scored just four goals all season – with just two coming in the Premier League – and have fallen out of favor with the starting XI, with Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota often favored to lead the charge.
And Slot says he is confident he can help the £85million man finally click at Anfield. Asked if Nunez was fighting to prove his long-term future, the boss said: 'For me it's the same as if we played an early kick-off and lost.
“People would probably say, 'You weren't awake because you played at 12.15.' When things aren't perfect, there are always a lot of things brought up that don't have much to do with what's going on.
'Darwin is a striker who we have to use in a certain way and we have not been able to get the best out of him this season. Against Accrington Stanley you saw again that he has a lot of speed, but unfortunately for him, most teams lean back a lot against us.
'If you look back at the goals he scored for us, I remember the one against Villa when he went around the goalkeeper on a fast break, that's his biggest strength – he has other qualities too – but we are still working on it to put him in the best possible positions against a low block.
'That's about the right timing, the right crosses, the right starting position and making the right run. But I also see, and I don't know if other people see this, that the way teams defend our No. 9 is something you have to give the other teams credit for.
'It's never: “Here Darwin, you can score”. Every time we cross, I see a defender over him. I see it, unfortunately referees don't. It's harder to score against a team like Forest because every time we had a chance there were six, seven, eight, nine or ten players in the box. garden box.
“And the one time (Chris) Wood got the chance, he was almost alone there. We weren't really close to the ball. They only had one chance, we had fifteen. But with the fifteen we had, there was always someone close to the ball or completely over one of our players.
'Darwin will score his goals. He has already done that and he will do it again.'
There is a lot of talk about Saudi Arabian clubs keeping an eye on Nunez. Mail Sport understands the interest is genuine, but Liverpool have not had any official approach to signing the striker from Saudi Arabia or otherwise.
He may get the chance to prove his worth this weekend with fellow striker Jota, a major doubt for the trip to Brentford with a niggle. He is not being completely ruled out, but Slot said it was a “struggle” to watch the Portuguese forward perform.
Slot added: 'It is not my perception that he struggles with self-confidence. He was involved in the first goal against Accrington Stanley, he was involved in the goal against Fulham that Jota scored, and he scored one against Southampton.
'He didn't have many starts after that. For me, this is the life of a striker: sometimes you score, sometimes you don't. Darwin will score his goals, as he has already done for this club.'
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