Darwin Nunez
Darwin Gabriel Nunez Ribeiro
Current Club: Liverpool.
Previous Clubs: Benfica, UD Almeria, Penarol.
Loan Clubs: N/A.
International: Uruguay 22 caps 8 goals.
Trophies Won: Portugese League Golden Boot 2021/22. Community Shield 2023. Uruguayan League 2016/17, 2017/18.
Nunez is a bizarre mix of talent, hard work, physical excellence and complete inconsistency. At times he is brilliant and unstoppable, then, often within the same move, he will miss the simplest opportunity. He has the potential to be one of the best strikers in the world, but he is so raw it is a potential that could turn out to be completely unreachable. All strikers miss sitters, even Erling Haaland is guilty of some misses that beggar belief, but Nunez seems to have turned it into an art form.
Despite the misses, he still manages to score plenty of goals but the reason why Nunez is currently Liverpool's first choice striker is not his goal scoring. It is everything else he brings to the table, which is creativity, particularly when he links with Mo Salah, his pressing and general all-round workrate, and the way he terrifies defenders no matter which team has the ball or where on the pitch it is, he is always causing problems. Nunez truly lives up to his Captain Chaos nickname as he charges around the pitch putting opponents under pressure when they have the ball or making runs when LFC have it.
When his team have the ball, he offers a threat in the air and on the ground. Nunez's pace means the defence have to be wary of his runs, if he gets away there is no chance of them catching him and he is always on the move making the defence have to constantly shift around to cover him. When the opposition have the ball, he is always looking to close down and lead the press, in a similar way to the way Roberto Firmino did for so many years. In fact, in many ways he is a lot like Firmino, but with pace, power and even higher workrate.
It has required changes to the way the front three operate, as he does not drop off to play in the space between the midfield and defence. While that caused problems and created spaces centrally for Salah and Sadio Mane to cut inside, Nunez instead plays on the shoulder more and pushes defences back, giving the midfield more space to operate. Because of that, Liverpool are able to dominate the ball more as, even when they lose it, the opposition are so deep they struggle to get out, other than the long ball into the space left by the inverted full-back. That allows the team to use a less defensive-minded deep-lying midfielder as they are generally higher up the pitch and can make good use of a more creative type.
But none of that is why Nunez has become such a cult hero on the Kop. That is because he has an attitude that endears him to fans. He clearly cares, he is emotional and gets involved in everything whether he is on the pitch or the bench, but more than that it is his never-say-die willingness to just keep going no matter what. If he loses the ball, he does not just stand there throwing his arms up like some players do, instead Nunez will chase round putting pressure on until it is won back. If he misses a shot, he never lets his head drop, Nunez just keeps going and going.
You do never know what you will get from him, other than effort and desire, he can have a loose touch which brings jeers from opposition fans only to shove those jeers back down their throats by chasing his own poor touch and curling one in to the top corner from 30 odd yards. He can slot him the most difficult of chances under extreme pressure or he can miss the simplest sitter when it is easier to score. Nunez is chaos, pure unadulterated chaos and it is so much fun to watch.
Requested by - Madblue0304, Mighty reds