Darwin Núñez | Liverpool player | Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shish

Powderfinger

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I agree he's not bad, but Real? He wouldn't get anywhere near their team.
Teams with star wide forwards usually want a hard working CF who can occupy and disrupt defenders, create space for the others to exploit, and play just enough to fit into the team.

I don't see many better candidates than Nunez among strikers entering or in their prime.
 

Steve Bruce

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Nunez has been one of the best attackers in England this year. The guy has 31 goal involvements (one every 79 minutes) across all competitions and is a huge pain in the ass to play against with his physicality and constant running. He's about as good as Firmino's top level already and has room to go higher at 24. Where the rebuild hasn't gone well is the rest of the attack, as Gakpo is poor, Diaz is always injured and isn't a reliable scorer, and Jota is a great scorer but can't stay healthy and doesn't have the all around game of either Mane or Salah even when fit.

People are so attached to the idea of Nunez as a donkey or a bust but that's just not reality at this point. Unfortunately he's a really really good player and I can only hope Barcelona or Real Madrid come calling in the next couple years with their distinct attractiveness to South Americans (he'd actually be a great foil for Mbappe/Vini, willing to put in the hard yards but also capable of scoring and setting them up).
stats are part of an argument but not the be all to end all.

He hasn’t scored against a top 6 team all season. His decision making is shocking, he misses sitters on the regular.

Just concentrate on Liverpool Forwards over the years. Fowler, Owen, Torres, Suarez, Mane, Firmino and even Jota. They all score big goals in big games as well as the smaller clubs. Nunez is a flat track bully, he's the most over rated striker in recent memory with pr building media using his terrible misses as a positive giving him stupid nicknames like captain chaos.

The same was done with Countinho, they said he was world class, he never was, he was a good player that had world class moments. Proved at Barca he wasn't the player the media and Liverpool fans told us he was.

If Nunez signed for united and produced the performances of the last 2 seasons in a united shirt the same people that wax lyrical about him would be hammering him relentlessly.
 

Maluco

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Nunez has been one of the best attackers in England this year. The guy has 31 goal involvements (one every 79 minutes) across all competitions and is a huge pain in the ass to play against with his physicality and constant running. He's about as good as Firmino's top level already and has room to go higher at 24. Where the rebuild hasn't gone well is the rest of the attack, as Gakpo is poor, Diaz is always injured and isn't a reliable scorer, and Jota is a great scorer but can't stay healthy and doesn't have the all around game of either Mane or Salah even when fit.

People are so attached to the idea of Nunez as a donkey or a bust but that's just not reality at this point. Unfortunately he's a really really good player and I can only hope Barcelona or Real Madrid come calling in the next couple years with their distinct attractiveness to South Americans (he'd actually be a great foil for Mbappe/Vini, willing to put in the hard yards but also capable of scoring and setting them up).
They need him to be peak Mane/Salah, and he is a long way off that. He looks terrible in a number of big games and I don’t think he is a good foil for anyone.

You are underestimating how intelligent Firmino was as a player and what allowed him to be such a good foil. Darwin is a handful because of his athleticism and unpredictability., but he doesn’t have the intelligence, composure and poise to be a foil for anyone. He is energetic and a tremendous athlete, but he isn’t a top player for me.

If he remains Liverpools best option post-Salah, that is great news for the rest of the league.

When the overall energy of the team drops post-Klopp, he will be one of the ones that will suffer.
 

Danny

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Surely not? He botched a brilliant chance to kill the game then handed Rashford the equaliser almost immediately after
He was a nuisance though and had the header too and the chance you refer to. I think there's a player in there actually but rough around the edges
 

troylocker

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End product? He's a fairly shite finisher and the chaos he brings is for both sides.
Endproduct = Goals, assists and goal threat.
Firmino averaged on 0,63 xGi/90 (expected direct goalinvolvements per 90 minutes) and never had more than 22 goal involvements in a single PL season for Liverpool despite starting every match when fit for several seasons. He averaged a goal contribution every 143 minutes for Liverpool.
Darwin has averaged on 1,11 xGi/90 for Liverpool and despite horrible finishing for them has averaged a goal contribution every 113 minutes (trending in the positive direction)

He is a nightmare to defend against and plays with an intensity you rarely if ever see.
 

11101

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Endproduct = Goals, assists and goal threat.
Firmino averaged on 0,63 xGi/90 (expected direct goalinvolvements per 90 minutes) and never had more than 22 goal involvements in a single PL season for Liverpool despite starting every match when fit for several seasons. He averaged a goal contribution every 143 minutes for Liverpool.
Darwin has averaged on 1,11 xGi/90 for Liverpool and despite horrible finishing for them has averaged a goal contribution every 113 minutes (trending in the positive direction)

He is a nightmare to defend against and plays with an intensity you rarely if ever see.
A lesson in overusing stats i think. Firmino was far more effective at bringing others into play and provided a threat himself against big teams due to his superior ability. Nunez is little worry to a solid defence, his technique isnt good enough and being quick and strong only gets you so far. He hasn't done anything against a top 6 rival yet.
 

Rossa

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We have no idea in fairness.

Had it not been for a Nani red card, we were in with a great chance of a league & CL double in SAF’s final season.
Relax. Liverpool is the only team that is in contention of winning a quadruble as early as September. It happens every season - "Look, they are still competing in four tournaments" - yeah, we've hardly kicked a ball... Happens every year. Klopp has 1 PL title and one CL title; he shouldn't be mentioned amongst the greatest PL managers - the top is Ferguson, then there is an argument on Mourinho, Wenger and Pep for the remainding spots in a top three.

And yes, Nunes is a nuisance, but that is about it. Not really sure how effective he is using that pace of his - he often gets into offside positions
 

troylocker

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A lesson in overusing stats i think. Firmino was far more effective at bringing others into play and provided a threat himself against big teams due to his superior ability. Nunez is little worry to a solid defence, his technique isnt good enough and being quick and strong only gets you so far. He hasn't done anything against a top 6 rival yet.
Except he has goals and/or assists against all 5 of the traditional top 5 (City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United and Spurs)

So let's go into the stats again then, as I still think stats are more accurate than gutfeeling:

Firmino against the traditional top 5 and against the big teams in Europe (Bayern, BVB, RM, Atleti, Barca, Napoli, Inter, PSG):
33 goals and 16 assists in 113 games vs. all these top teams (including 11 goals and 3 assists in 18 games vs. his favourite Arsenal)
0,29 goals/game and 0,43 goals+assists/game.

Darwin vs. top defenses: traditional top 5 and against the big teams in Europe (Bayern, RM, Barca, Napoli, Liverpool):
11 goals and 5 assists in 32 games
0,34 goals/game and 0,50 goals+assists/game.

Who do you think has the highest assistratio or expected assists between the two?
Firmino for Liverpool: 0,22xA/90 and 0,24 assists/90
Darwin for Liverpool: 0,29xA/90 and 0,27 assists/90

Again, totally different players with very different qualities. One very direct and stretches teams while the other falls deep and brings others into play. You like one type of player others like the other type of player. Teams can have use for both types and both types can be equally important for a team, but it's hard to say who's the better player because they have so different skillsets and roles in a team.

Nunez has elite movement and instincts for a goalscorer. If he learns to keep his cool and improve his finishing he'll be WC.
 

Malkovich

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It is always difficult to replace Firmino, can't think of many players with his style. With Diaz-Darwin-Salah front 3, you sort of have 3 maniacs running forward all the time, there isn't that much pause being provided. But hey, they are fighting for the league so maybe it will work.