The new season will soon kick off and clubs across Europe’s top leagues are already preparing with preseason games to achieve fitness and readiness for the new campaign. Of course, it is no news that Liverpool’s preseason tour has seen them play against Manchester United and Crystal Palace within the space of a few days.
The Reds began their preseason with a rather unexpected loss at the hands of a revamped and compact Manchester United side under Ten Hag. The 4-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United brought to the fore the discussion and talks over Liverpool’s new signing, Darwin Núñez.
Recall that Núñez was signed on a big money transfer from Benfica after the Uruguayan’s sterling display in the Portuguese league and UEFA Champions League, where he was absolutely exceptional in the UCL match against Liverpool, where he actually bagged a goal.
It seems from that performance that Jürgen Klopp was more than convinced to allow the club to go all out to sign the young forward, who now has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders to prove his big summer move from Benfica was worth it.
Unfortunately, the way many expected Darwin to start his spell at Liverpool hasn’t really been the case if we rate him from how he missed an open goal against Manchester United and the relatively average performance against Crystal Palace in Liverpool’s second preseason game.
However, everything points to the fact that Liverpool fans will have to show a lot of patience for Núñez despite the mixed performances in just two games he has played for the club so far.
Patience Will Prevent Excessive Pressure On Darwin Núñez.
We must not shy away from the fact that many Liverpool fans were probably expecting Darwin Núñez to be firing on all cylinders in preseason to strike fear in the minds of English Premier League clubs next season. Understandably, those were the kind of expectations for the player as he cost so much and was meant to be the replacement for the departed Sadio Mané at Bayern Munich.
But placing excessive expectations or pressure might cripple Nunez’s career at Liverpool before it even started. Replacing overly excessive pressure with patience is key to unlocking the potential that the Uruguayan international possesses, which Klopp reiterated in one of his latest press conferences.
Patience for a player who is coming from a relatively two-sided and less fancied league to a new country with different language, and an incredibly hard league is the least thing Liverpool can give the young striker. Darwin knows it wouldn’t be easy, especially after his “baptism of fire” matches against Manchester United and Crystal Palace, hence why Liverpool fans should give him that time to acclimatize and get himself into the intensity of playing for Liverpool in the English Premier League.
Liverpool fans should also remember that there was a Uruguayan international, Luis Suarez, who once signed for them but it took him almost half a season for him to settle fully and understand the rigors of the English Premier League before turning into a fearful and ruthless striker for the Reds. The kind of patience and faith given to Luis Suarez might need to be shown to Darwin Núñez because it will benefit all parties involved in the end.
All in all, like every player that comes to the Premier League from another league, Darwin Núñez will need time to adjust to a more intense football league. While the money spent for him was quite a lot, he will come into his own with time. Liverpool fans should seldom worry for now, as the Uruguayan will likely become the star that made him come to the club to begin with.