Revealed: The real reason Darwin Nunez is playing on the Liverpool left flank
When Liverpool splashed out a club-record fee for Darwin Nunez last summer, supporters were thrilled for many reasons.
The club had landed a top tier forward talent who was proven in the Champions League, had his best years ahead of him and appeared perfect for Jurgen Klopp’s devastating attacking formation.
Losing Sadio Mane, a big crowd favourite, was a blow but his best years were seemingly behind him and the team needed to move on from the forward trio of the Senegalese, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah who had been the bedrock of Jurgen Klopp’s great Liverpool side.
With Firmino being demoted and Diogo Jota regularly shifted around the front line, Mane had mainly operated at centre-forward following the arrival of Luis Diaz in January.
In Nunez, it was felt, Liverpool had secured their centre-forward, their spearhead, their attack leader, for the next five years.
The Uruguay international did not have the record-splintering goal records of Man City headliner Erling Haaland, but was a marquee capture in his own right.
Despite often errant finishing, a patent rawness and a temperamental streak that none of his fellow Anfield forwards possess, Nunez has lived up to his billing.
His second brilliant goal in consecutive matches on Tuesday night was later overshadowed by a Real Madrid masterclass that ruthlessly exposed the weaknesses so apparent all season in Klopp’s side.
It came when Nunez found himself in the penalty area, rather than on the left flank where he has mainly been stationed in recent matches.
Cody Gakpo arrived last month and revealed his preference was to play down the left, the position he had such great success in at PSV Eindhoven, rather than centrally despite his imposing 6ft 4in frame.
Nunez, by contrast, prefers to operate centrally to give himself as much opportunity to score as possible.
However, the Liverpool coaching team believe the set up of the team is currently more effective with the two forwards not in their favoured roles – Nunez out wide and Gakpo down the middle.
Some fans see that as a “shock” given the differences in their playing styles and the fact Nunez is clearly a bigger goal threat.
It is believed that the Dutchman is better capable of dropping back to bolster the midfield when the team lose the ball – much like Firmino has done for much of his Liverpool career – with Nunez’s defensive work not currently at the same level.
Moreover, the Uruguayan’s devastating pace enables him to isolate the full-back in one v one positions, and provide the same thrust that Salah does on the opposite flank.
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