Arne Slot believes that Darwin Nunez may be trying too hard to score again and keep the fans happy.
The Liverpool striker has scored just three goals this season, two of which came in the Premier League. Nunez's performance against Girona on Tuesday attracted widespread criticism as he missed big chances to put the Reds ahead and then disappeared from the game in the second half.
But Liverpool head coach Slot's real concern is that Nunez is putting too much pressure on himself and not worrying about his performance. Slot said: “Maybe it's because the fans support him so much, maybe he wants it too much to score that goal for himself and also for the fans because they've been very supportive.
“All our players feel the support of our fans, but he is certainly one of them. Mon [Salah] scores so many goals that he likes the support of the fans but doesn't really need it at the moment, but what I like about special fans is that they are supportive not only when things are going very well for a player, but especially when he needs that support, that's what makes these fans of ours special in my opinion.”
Ahead of Saturday's match with Fulham, Nunez has scored just two goals in the Premier League, while Mo Salah carries a much bigger threat with 13 goals in the league. But Slot is not concerned about the Uruguayan striker's numbers as he believes he contributes to the team in other ways.
He said: “For me he has an impact. If you just look at the goals, he hasn't scored the number of goals he wants to score, or we want our number nine to score, but he has had an impact on his work rate. That's not just for the other team not to create a chance, but if we lose the ball he's aggressive to get the ball back and still create chances.
“He is part of a team that scores a lot of goals and wins a lot, but as a number nine you naturally want to score more goals and that is certainly what he wants too. But so far I don't just judge Mo on his goals, I don't just judge Darwin on his goals, I judge them on work rate and what they bring to the team and that has been positive so far, except for us and him I want more scoring goals.”
What perhaps worried Slot was how Nunez's head dropped when he missed chances in Tuesday's Champions League match. He added: “We all saw that they did something to him when he missed a few chances on Tuesday and everyone needs an arm around you, whether from a teammate, the fans or your manger.
“But I also made it clear to him that he is not only judged on the goals he scores, but also on the team performance and that he also adds to the team performance with his work rate and how much he wins. the ball high on the field again.
“Yes, I said it before, ideally he would have scored a few more goals. Maybe you'll ask me in a few weeks [about] Mo no longer scores and Darwin scores one goal after another. It's the life of a number nine, sometimes you score, sometimes you don't.
“But what always has to be there is work rate and I think that's what he has, apart from two games: the first against Las Palmas, I said that to him yesterday, and the last half hour against Girona was not.” of the standards he should have. That had a lot to do with him being disappointed because he missed a few opportunities.”
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