Jamie Carragher has admitted that he would have found Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez ‘a handful’ to deal with.
In an interview with The Daily Mail, Carragher claimed that he would have hated playing against the Liverpool star.
“I would have found him a handful, I think anyone would,” said the former Reds defender. “It is just where Liverpool can have that connection with him. But the size, the pace, the power of him, he has a great goal-scoring record, you don’t want to be coming up against him too often.”
The pundit is absolutely right, Nunez has all the attributes to make life awkward for even the best defenders. Now it’s about him showing that on a regular basis for Liverpool.
Klopp searching for the right formula for Nunez
It seems that like everyone, Carragher is just waiting for Nunez to click at his new club.
The early signs have certainly been mixed, but there’s obviously a really talented player in there. As Carragher points out, his sheer pace, power and size make him a handful alone.
Whether or not he can work out how to best use those attributes will determine how much of a success he is at Anfield.
Of course, that’s not only down to the player himself. As a slightly different option to the rest of Liverpool’s forwards, he hasn’t slotted in as seamlessly as someone like Luis Diaz.
Instead, it’s down to Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool coaches to work out how best to use Nunez. They need to find the right system that allows the Reds to play to the 23-year-old’s strengths.
As of yet, they still haven’t properly managed to do that. But the expectation is that given time and appropriate coaching, Darwin will get there.
Once he does, he’s got the potential to score bags and bags of goals. Hopefully in the near future, there’ll be a few defenders of the highest-level echoing Carragher’s words.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
