Steve Nicol has fumed at Darwin Nunez’s critics and urged them to ‘get off his back’, insisting that the Liverpool striker needs a consistent run of starts to prove a point to his detractors.
In the space of a few minutes against West Ham last Sunday, the Uruguayan missed a glorious chance at 1-1 before then scoring with a sumptuous volley as the Reds ultimately triumphed 3-1 at Anfield.
It took the 24-year-old’s goal tally to four for the season so far, along with two assists, and he seems well on his way to surpassing his haul of 15 goals from last term (Transfermarkt).
However, Nunez continues to face criticism from some quarters over the opportunities that he passes up, and Nicol has had enough of the striker’s constant detractors.
VOTE for Empire of the Kop as Best Club Content Creator (Premier League) here: Football Content Awards OR on X with Empire’s one-click X link with: I am voting in @The_FCAs for @empireofthekop in Best Club Content Creator (Premier League)
Speaking on ESPN FC, the former Liverpool player said of the Uruguay forward: “They just cane him and then say ‘they won’t be looking forward to playing against him.’ What does this guy have to do to get people off his back? What does he have to do?
“We’ve been saying this guy needs to get a run of games to gain that composure. Nobody is going to disagree that he sometimes doesn’t have the composure in front of goal.
“Everybody agrees with that, but he’s not going to get that unless he gets a run of games. He’s now getting a run of games. He’s still scoring goals, he’s maybe not scored as many as he should, but come on. Let’s get off his back, seriously.”
Nicol probably won’t have been too pleased to see Nunez named among the substitutes for Liverpool’s clash away to Tottenham this evening, with Cody Gakpo again preferred at centre-forward.
However, as the Uruguayan showed with his late match-winning double against Newcastle last month, he’s well capable of coming off the bench to make a massive impact.
You can view Nicol’s comments below (from 2:31), via ESPN FC on YouTube: