Darwin Núñez

[Doc_Piptorious]

Apart from height and pace, he is bang average.

He doesnt have the agility to go past players when wide. he cant play with his back to goal or turn with the ball.

His shooting is subpar. His passing isnt much better and struggles to get into positions where he can damage the opposition with his pace while on the ball. He does seem to find space to run into off the ball... but has wasted far too many chances when he breaks through.

He is not much better than Cisse or Benteke, and neither of those are top tier, albeit they can be effective if the team plays to their strengths. And I feel.this is where the problem is. His pace is mostly useless when teams sit deep.I dont think he knows how to use it. Mane would rip defenders a new one even when playing poorly,bevauee he could run at pace and turn quickly with the ball. If you play him in the middle is has to be as a striker on yhe shoulder of the last defender. But our system uses a false nine.

Saying that... He could make a useful plan B... but he really jeeds to get his conversion rate up a bit.

I remember when we signed Crouch and a lot of people doubted, but I could see he had a decent touch and was combining well despite his drought. He finished with 59 goals and assists in 134 games, which was pretty good. Nunez actually has 18 in 36, which is statistically better... but I am not seeing the same qualities. His conversion rate is 15%, lower than Carvalho and Elliott.

Now I do think we should give him one more season, but if Diaz and Gakpo are fit then he shouldnt be getting games.

A more solid midfield should sort the defence out and start winning balls higher up the pitch again. He is very good in the air, but the supply of crosses from Trent has been distinctly lacking.

He may be able to score 30 in a good season, but he will never be top tier. I think the price tag is probably a bit of weighted expectation at a time we needed a new midfield instead. Also Diaz' injury meant he was thrown in at the deep end.

Hopefully next season will be better, either way.

New guy in a new team in a new country that does not speak the language fully.

Then throw in the fact that he is being played mostly as a winger in a team within which even the star perfromers of past seasons look utter muck for the most part.

Cannot compare him to natural wingers like Mane.

Tbh I think he is the one of the least of our problems up front in many ways and certainly one of the lesser "problems" of those dotted around the first team.


Jota for me looks an awful lot worse, Diaz we will be pinning hopes on that he returns as good as he was before his injury (and lest we forget he was also being questioned pre injury by many with regards to finishing and consistency)

I'm far more concerned with how poor to average ( depending on how one grades them) the spine of the team has been all season.

TAA, VVD, Robertson, Henderson and Fabinho. Those are meant to be our go to guys. The mentality monsters. But all five seem to whinge and hide more than they try to get stuck in.

Throw in Thiago being injured (tbf that should be expected for about 50% of games anyway) and Matip's form being shakey.

Salah's levels have dropped too but at least he can have a **** game and still score so he is contributing.

Jota looked crap pre and post injury.

Diaz we have no idea what he will be like when he returns or if he will be another "we will see the best of him next season" guy.


That's ten players out of sorts and/or injured for most of the season. No wonder a number of the newer guys are not settling how we hoped.

Right now we have Alisson as, imo of course, the runaway leader to win our player of the season and our next best for me (when available) has been Konate.

Bajcetic looked very promising but injury cut short seeing whether he would have maintained it our not.

I would not be looking towards Gakpo or Darwin this season (maybe they come good in a big way, maybe they do not but both need a settled season in a settled team and most importantly to be played in the positions in which they made their names - probably moreso for Darwin on that front) when we have most of our senior players playing like they had checked out in the first half of the season and still look that way.

[Harv]

If only we’d had Darwin back then eh?

What a load of nonsense. Those three were the reason we created so many chances. They weren’t just hanging about tapping them in.

Whats a load of nonsense? That they didn't miss chances galore? Because if thats what youre saying, then youre wrong pal. They used to miss multiple good chances every single game. Jota and Mane especially, and don't even get me started on the amount of glorious chances spurned by Firmino.

Not sure what the point youre trying to make is to be honest. Yeah they created the chances. They're attackers. Its their ****ing job.

I swear to god some of you cant read.

[Harv]

I don't like personally insulting people on forums, I try to refrain as it goes nowhere. I'm just back from Wales it's an expression over there in the valleys. I actually laughed when I typed it

I actually think it's used to describe an ugly old slutty woman. I burst out laughing when I heard wife say it, so I thought I would bring it to the Darwin thread as Harv is frankly a rude angry guy/girl.

Where did i insult you there? Saying someones deluded is an insult now?

Im a guy/girl? Work it out you nonce

[Harv]

well by that measure it matters more than ever now for him to score goals, you absolute trout. Ffs, I just read your Salah post, or all 700 or them about how **** he is. Only problem with what you are spouting is, he is still scoring goals!!! He was ****e today but he still scored.

Nunez is not good technically and he does show a lack of composure but like many times in this thread you also fail acknowledge any positives of what I say about him or that I am saying he is playing in a dysfunctional side... which luckily for me are there for others to read. I know he's a handsome dude but put away that little boner of yours.

How **** he's become. Theres a difference. His all round game has been absolutely awful for the whole season. Im not the only person saying this. Yeah he's scored some goals, he's the focal point of our entire side. Of course he's going to. Most of them, like yesterday, are tap ins. Hardly any dribbling past players, hitting them from outside the box, running onto through balls, like he used to do.

You keep going on about Nunez not being good technically, yet he dribbled past more players yesterday in his cameo than Mo did the entire game
His finishing has been disappointing, there no debate about that. He creates chances for others too which seem to be ignored by all those slagging him off the first chance they get. Put that header on a plate for Konate at the end there. Not one mention from what ive seen...

I don't acknowledge "the positives" you say, because they're backhanded compliments said at the end of your usual inane guff about him not being good technically.

[Buzzo]

Whats a load of nonsense? That they didn't miss chances galore? Because if thats what youre saying, then youre wrong pal. They used to miss multiple good chances every single game. Jota and Mane especially, and don't even get me started on the amount of glorious chances spurned by Firmino.

Not sure what the point youre trying to make is to be honest. Yeah they created the chances. They're attackers. Its their ****ing job.

I swear to god some of you cant read.

your not sure what point I’m trying to make????

You seem to be talking down one of the most explosive and exciting front three partnerships in our history. In Prem history.

[Shaggy]

There can't have been a single fan in the world who thought he was gonna put that chance away.

[RichC]

There can't have been a single fan in the world who thought he was gonna put that chance away.

I like Darwin but I remember years ago Cisse clean through against Villa and thinking no chance he’s scoring, it was like that yesterday.

He’s not performed like we’d hoped this season but this side is so dysfunctional that there’s far bigger issues than him at the moment.

[Kenneth]

Looked quite composed to me, got the ball out from under his feet, tried to slot it under Ramsdale and it was a good save to keep it out.

Also, not seeing it with his first touch either, seems fine to me...he had a few bad touches in his first handful of games but I put that down to just being too eager to get going, but since then he's been fine.

His first touch was fine, the he took about three others in quick succession while the keeper was coming to close him down, and by the time he got the shot off, a great chance had become eminently saveable. Another great chance fluffed unfortunately, pretty much the story of his season.

[Harv]

your not sure what point I’m trying to make????

You seem to be talking down one of the most explosive and exciting front three partnerships in our history. In Prem history.

Your point in relation to my initial point, which you seemed to completely miss in your mad rush to tell me im wrong. Yes.

Yet again, bringing up something thats completely beside the point.

I said they've all regularly missed loads of chances. Nothing about them not being amazing. Nothing about them not being exciting. You're acting like they're all gods amongst men ffs and have never made any mistakes, ever.

This discussion is about finishing chances. Yes, they scored loads of goals. But there were games where we could've smashed teams by 6+ on many occasions and ended up scraping a 2-1 or 1-0 win. Firmino, Mane and Jota have been guilty of missing loads of very easy chances.

We were winning though, so nobody (well a few did) said anything.

Fast forward to now and we're dropping points galore, have a geriatric car-crash of a midfield and create nowhere near the amount of chances we usually do and Darwin's the one copping pelters because he missed his one chance? Granted it was a glorious chance, but ffs. People ignoring Salah was through on goal too and didnt even hit the target? Or the ****ing penalty he smashed wide? or the chance he booted into row z? What about Robbo being through on goal and ****ting himself yet again. Or Konate just needing to get a head on his chance and its a winner. Come on man.

[Harv]

There can't have been a single fan in the world who thought he was gonna put that chance away.

Nope, clearly he doesn't either.
The pressure thats been put on him to take every single chance isn't helping.

He needs to sack off twitter and social media. Can only imagine the **** he's getting on there from the fair-weather Dans.

[Kenneth]

Him missing a number of sitters early in his career with us set the tone and I would imagine that it affected his confidence. He looked scared in his early games.

[Harv]

Wouldn't say he looked scared. He might've been a bit overawed? But early on he was clearly trying too hard. Was snatching at everything

[Buzzo]

Your point in relation to my initial point, which you seemed to completely miss in your mad rush to tell me im wrong. Yes.

Yet again, bringing up something thats completely beside the point.

I said they've all regularly missed loads of chances. Nothing about them not being amazing. Nothing about them not being exciting. You're acting like they're all gods amongst men ffs and have never made any mistakes, ever.

This discussion is about finishing chances. Yes, they scored loads of goals. But there were games where we could've smashed teams by 6+ on many occasions and ended up scraping a 2-1 or 1-0 win. Firmino, Mane and Jota have been guilty of missing loads of very easy chances.

We were winning though, so nobody (well a few did) said anything.

Fast forward to now and we're dropping points galore, have a geriatric car-crash of a midfield and create nowhere near the amount of chances we usually do and Darwin's the one copping pelters because he missed his one chance? Granted it was a glorious chance, but ffs. People ignoring Salah was through on goal too and didnt even hit the target? Or the ****ing penalty he smashed wide? or the chance he booted into row z? What about Robbo being through on goal and ****ting himself yet again. Or Konate just needing to get a head on his chance and its a winner. Come on man.

FWIW you are going for the whataboutery of ‘Mane and Firmino used to miss also’ not me. And that seems to be totally besides the point. Especially given Firmino scored the equaliser yesterday.

Scoring key goals takes way more composure than scoring the 4th in a five nil. So long as you bag the three points then everyone goes home happy.

I’m not ruling Nunez out, btw, I like elements of what I see. But he is way more of a work in progress than we are used to.

And yes, this season there are issues across the team. And yes, Mo should have scored his penalty and Robbo should have at least hit the target. And Konate should have bundled home. But Nunez should have scored his chance also.

You are completely right though, winning changes the narrative. If Salah scored his pen then Nunez is through on goal to win it…

Watching it back, he still seems overly emotional in his play. The run is fantastic but then his ability to manoeuvre the ball so he just has to slot it home did not exist. He doesn’t even look at the goal. He needs to be calmer and more clinical.

We could run on and on with this, but I suspect we are talking about almost entirely different things

[danperkins]

Where did i insult you there? Saying someones deluded is an insult now?

Im a guy/girl? Work it out you nonce

Anger issue alert

You do realise how ridiculous it looks with the ****e you have been spouting about Salah vs the bizarre outraged offensive in the Darwin thread. It's just weird but frankly you're a bit weird so maybe it makes sense

[danperkins]

FWIW you are going for the whataboutery of ‘Mane and Firmino used to miss also’ not me. And that seems to be totally besides the point. Especially given Firmino scored the equaliser yesterday.

Scoring key goals takes way more composure than scoring the 4th in a five nil. So long as you bag the three points then everyone goes home happy.

I’m not ruling Nunez out, btw, I like elements of what I see. But he is way more of a work in progress than we are used to.

And yes, this season there are issues across the team. And yes, Mo should have scored his penalty and Robbo should have at least hit the target. And Konate should have bundled home. But Nunez should have scored his chance also.

You are completely right though, winning changes the narrative. If Salah scored his pen then Nunez is through on goal to win it…

Watching it back, he still seems overly emotional in his play. The run is fantastic but then his ability to manoeuvre the ball so he just has to slot it home did not exist. He doesn’t even look at the goal. He needs to be calmer and more clinical.

We could run on and on with this, but I suspect we are talking about almost entirely different things