Liverpool must get Nunez to repeat Benfica trick to inspire 2021/22 goal machine form – opinion | OneFootball

It’s fair to say that despite Liverpool splashing £64m on Darwin Nunez earlier this summer, the Uruguayan hasn’t had the easiest start to life on Merseyside.

The 23-year-old scored twice and registered an assist in his first two competitive outings, but since then it’s been far from plain sailing for the forward.

The Anfield outfit clearly see something in the former Almeria forward and it would be ridiculous to suggest after six games that Nunez is not good enough to succeed at Anfield.

Benfica psychologist Evandro Mota agrees and he has weighed in on the striker’s situation, explaining what off-field adjustment Nunez could make in order to kickstart his Liverpool career.

“When an athlete has the guts to admit he needs some help, it’s so much easier to work with him,” Mota told Four Four Two (via the Mirror). “That’s Darwin, a boy way ahead of his age who always kept an open mind and was willing to listen to the right people.

“When people are dealing with so much criticism, we suggest it’s best if they isolate themselves from the environment that’s doing them harm. Darwin is a kid who demands a lot for himself and realised the social media stuff would only bring him down.

“He had already overcome a lot in his life, and that episode has helped him become an even better professional. That’s what makes him a real gem, not only in terms of technical quality, but also in terms of intelligence.”

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The keyboard warriors online have been having a great time in recent weeks and they’re receiving a huge number of ‘clicks’ lately due to the fact every move that Nunez appears to make is hugely scrutinised.

TalkSPORT pundit Gabriel Abgonlahor is the latest to jump on the anti-Nunez bandwagon – going as far as comparing the Uruguayan to Romelu Lukaku and labelling him as ‘the worst signing of the summer’.

It must be remembered that our No. 27 didn’t choose the sizeable fee that was payed to Benfica for his services.

He was the Lisbon-based outfit’s main man and after netting 34 goals in 41 appearances for them last term (across all competitions), including two in as many appearances against Jurgen Klopp’s side, his market value was always going to increase significantly in an attempt to ward off interest from other clubs.

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At the moment, the Uruguay international still has his social media accounts active and appears to be doing a pretty good job of blocking out the keyboard warriors that are sending criticism his way.

It might be good for the club to encourage Nunez to either avoid social media or temporarily delete his accounts to focus on his football – that’s one solution that will reduce the chance of distraction for the forward.

Some may claim it should be easy for Nunez to ignore the abuse online or for him to just ‘get on with it’, but when thousands upon thousands are slating him, it’s bound to have some sort of affect on his confidence.

When we return to action against Brighton on October 1, how good it would it be to see our new forward find the back of the net and silence the haters?

He’s arrived in a completely new league in a completely new country where he’s still learning the language.

It’s imperative that he’s afforded time before we can expect to see him performing at his unplayable best that we all know he’s capable of.

His performance against Liverpool at Anfield in the Champions League last season was a taster of the quality he possesses – we can’t wait to see that Nunez week in and week out once he’s settled.

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