Ian Wright applauded Darwin Nunez this week for something he noticed him doing on Liverpool’s bench. The Uruguayan is off to a great start.
Darwin Nunez is yet to start a competitive game for Liverpool but he’s still won a penalty, scored twice and assisted another. It doesn’t really get much better for two second-half substitutions.
Jurgen Klopp is yet to throw his new star signing in from the get-go and perhaps there’s a reason for that. Ian Wright spotted one, anyway, during the Community Shield last week.
“I think Klopp has managed it well in the way that he’s obviously got him watching what’s going on,” he told the Wrighty’s House podcast. “There was a clip of him in the Community Shield.
“You could just see him looking, he was on one of the seats, just watching. It’s almost as if Klopp said ‘just keep your eye on the movement, what he’s doing, what he’s doing’.
“Because when I saw Nunez come on, he was just attacking the box. You saw what his goal was like and it was the same against Fulham.”
Darwin Nunez from the bench
It’s one we hadn’t really considered but Wright could be onto something here. The fastest way for Nunez to get up to speed could simply be for him to watch it up close. And you won’t get that anywhere else but a game.
Perhaps it’s a happy consequence of Klopp sticking with a more trusted group of players, however. We’re not sure he’d actively leave out the better player just to have him watch games from the bench. The fact that Nunez is doing it intently is a wonderful thing, though.
And it’s something that should lead to easier partnerships with players going forward. We already see how Klopp plans on using the likes of Harvey Elliott behind Nunez. It also appears that Mohamed Salah is enjoying life with the Uruguyan dragging defenders away.
Nunez is fitting in perfectly, in other words. And Wright could be on the money that his time on the bench is helping.
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