{"id":642194,"date":"2024-06-28T17:30:10","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T21:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=642194"},"modified":"2024-06-28T17:30:10","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T21:30:10","slug":"darwin-nunez-arne-slots-liverpool-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/06\/28\/darwin-nunez-arne-slots-liverpool-squad\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Darwin Nunez Does Not Fit Into Arne Slot’s Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jurgen Klopp\u2019s departure inevitably ushers in a period of transition at Liverpool<\/a>. His successor, Arne Slot, will bring a fresh template of tactics, ideas, and backroom staff and allow players<\/span>\u00a0to establish themselves in his ideal starting lineup.<\/span><\/p>\n

One such player is Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan, currently participating in the Copa America<\/a>, has divided fans and pundits alike with his performances during his time at Anfield. He <\/span>recently ignited transfer rumours, having deleted all of his Liverpool-related Instagram posts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are Liverpool better off cutting their losses and reinvesting the money in other areas? Or is Nunez an integral part of a squad which will look to challenge across four competitions next season?<\/span><\/p>\n

Does Darwin Nunez fit into Arne Slot’s Liverpool?<\/h2>\n

The ‘Agent of Chaos’
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nunez has been under the spotlight since his \u20ac75 million arrival from Benfica<\/a> in 2022. Having been recruited in the same transfer window as Erling Haaland<\/a>, comparisons were instantly drawn between the two.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Nunez was <\/span>disappointing<\/span> in his debut season. A red card in his first Premier League start put a target on his back. This, combined with repeated misses of big chances, led to him receiving plenty of stick from opposing fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liverpool, however, have stood by him. Supporters loudly chant his name in the stadium, and he features heavily in social media posts. Nunez improved in his second season, bagging 19 league goal contributions. Yet his reputation failed to significantly improve. It was not helped by his mediocre late-season form and 27 big chances missed. The second-highest in the Premier League.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: Several Clubs Ask About Spanish Euro 2024 Star \u2013 \u00a346.5m Release Clause<\/a><\/p>\n

It is hard to reflect Nunez\u2019s impact with numbers though. He earned the nickname \u2018Agent of Chaos\u2019 due to his unpredictability in attack, and constant energy and commitment on-field. This created chances for himself, and generated space for his teammates to exploit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nunez <\/span>is excelling<\/span> internationally and appears to complement Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa\u2019s system, which also uses a 4-2-3-1 setup. On the other hand, Nunez has consistently struggled to replicate his international form at domestic level. He will undoubtedly now face stiff competition from his teammates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Competition From Within For Nunez in Arne Slot’s Liverpool<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Slot favours a 4-2-3-1 formation and could experiment with moving Mo Salah into the central role <\/span>that Nunez<\/span> tends to occupy. Alternatively, Nunez is set to face fierce competition for the position from current Liverpool strikers Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most apparent successor to Nunez in the central role is Gakpo. Like Nunez, Gakpo has struggled for consistency in his 18-month stint at the club. He did turn a corner towards the back end of the season, bagging three goals and two assists. A time when Liverpool saw their dreams of a quadruple disintegrate within weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nunez vs Gakpo vs Jota<\/h3>\n

Cody Gakpo has replicated his end-of-season form at the Euros<\/a>, with two group-stage goals <\/span>to his name<\/span>. He is a versatile player, who plays on the left for the Netherlands, <\/span>and<\/span> so there is potential for him to move out wide to make room for Nunez, especially if incumbent winger Luiz Diaz departs this summer. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, he has predominantly played centrally for Liverpool, either as an out-and-out striker or a \u2018false-nine\u2019. It is yet to be seen how this will fit into Arne Slot\u2019s<\/a> plans for the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>:\u00a0List of Liverpool Players Going to Euro 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

The same could be said for Nunez, who has been trialled out wide but to limited success. Gakpo and Nunez occupy similar roles in the team <\/span>and Slot<\/span> will have to decide whether he prefers Nunez\u2019s running and direct nature, or Gakpo\u2019s ability to take on defenders and act as a false nine.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other threat to Nunez\u2019s spot in the starting lineup is Diogo Jota. Jota is by far Liverpool\u2019s most clinical striker and, when fit, <\/span>has the ability to<\/span> cement his spot in the team. However, injuries have constantly plagued his Liverpool career <\/span>and it<\/span> would be a dangerous gamble to rely on him to be fit for the entire season, where Liverpool will be fighting for trophies on multiple fronts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Time to Cash Out?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Understandably, Slot is reluctant to make any major transfer decisions until he <\/span>is able to<\/span> watch the squad train at Melwood. Unfortunately, he <\/span>will have to<\/span> wait a few weeks to assess his <\/span>squad<\/span> due to Euro 2024 and <\/span>the Copa<\/span> America happening simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both tournaments finish in mid-July so any player whose team goes deep into the <\/span>tournament<\/span> is unlikely to rejoin the Liverpool squad until August, perilously close to the start of the season and the end of the transfer window.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: Five Liverpool Players Who Could Leave This Summer: Including \u2018Superstar\u2019 to European Rivals<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite his inconsistencies, Nunez will still demand a significant transfer fee. Whilst Liverpool will undoubtedly lose money in his sale, it might be worth cutting their losses. The club, fans, and Nunez himself have thrown everything they can to help him settle in and he has repaid that faith with solid returns and a \u2018never give up\u2019 attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet with high competition for places in Slot\u2019s new-look Liverpool lineup, it might be time for Nunez, who deserves consistent starts in a top team, to move on to <\/span>pastures new<\/span>. On the other hand, he might display the qualities synonymous with his Liverpool career and fight to establish himself as central to Liverpool\u2019s rebuild.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jurgen Klopp\u2019s departure inevitably ushers in a period of transition at Liverpool. His successor, Arne Slot, will bring a fresh template of tactics, ideas, and backroom staff and allow players\u00a0to establish themselves in his ideal starting lineup. One such player is Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan, currently participating in the Copa America, has divided fans and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5215,"featured_media":642240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[9795,6046],"class_list":["post-642194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-premier-league","tag-arne-slot","tag-darwin-nunez"],"modified_by":"Ricky Carroll, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5215"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}