Steve Nicol said that he ‘felt like smashing the telly’ upon listening to continued criticism of one Liverpool player during Sunday’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
Darwin Nunez couldn’t follow up his match-winning heroics against Newcastle with a goal yesterday and was culpable of one bad miss in the second half, but his overall performance made him a nightmare for the visitors to try and contain at Anfield.
However, the Uruguayan often found himself maligned by pundits during his first year with the Reds over his goal conversion rate, and one TV commentator during Sunday’s victory continued to pick holes in the 24-year-old’s display.
That left Nicol furious when the striker was brought up in discussion on ESPN FC, with the Scot saying: “You’re worse than the guy who was commentating today. All he kept saying any time Nunez did something was ‘Well he got 16 goals last year but he could’ve had more’ and ‘Oh, what Nunez have we got this week? Is it going to be the Nunez of last week?’
“I’m like, leave the guy alone! Seriously, I felt like smashing the telly. Every five minutes he was criticising Nunez. Leave the guy alone. He’s got two assists today.”
Nicol is right to call out the constant questioning of Nunez, who was excellent against Villa as he officially claimed one assist (for Mo Salah’s goal) and took the shot from which Matty Cash helplessly diverted the ball into his own net to make it 2-0.
Aside from that, his endless endeavour in the final third causes chaos among the visitors’ defence, and Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones hailed the 24-year-old as ‘imperious’ over his ‘destructive performance’.
We’ve no doubt that the goals will soon flow for the Uruguayan, and he’ll truly be unstoppable then!
You can hear Nicol’s comments on Nunez below (from 3:34), via ESPN FC on YouTube:
This isn’t anything new. Your opponents will singularly pick on the player they fear the most to try to unsettle and destabilise. The fact Nunez was advised to ignore online abuse (advice which he took) tells you clubs are aware of this tactic and with a clear head Darwin looks an absolute monster. Opponents need to be afraid, very afraid.
YNWA