da blaze casino： The striker has undeniably improved this season, but serious doubts remain over his finishing and decision-making
da brwin： While attempting to justify leaving Liverpool on a free transfer three years ago, Gini Wijnaldum said that he felt scapegoated by a certain section of the club's followers. "The fans in the stadium and the fans in social media were two different things," the midfielder told . "In the stadium, I can say nothing bad about them; they always supported me. But, on social media, if we lost, I was the one who got the blame."
Wijnaldum's claim caused quite a bit of controversy. Jamie Carragher was particularly annoyed by the Dutchman's take on things, arguing that Wijnaldum's exit had more to do with financial affairs than fickle fans.
"He wanted more money, the club said no, that’s football!" Carragher wrote at the time. "I love Gini but this is not right, social media is a circus and every club has clowns. Turn off your notifications and if it's bothering you that much delete the app!"
On Sunday evening, Darwin Nunez decided to go in a slightly different direction.
GettySympathy but also scrutiny
After walking straight down the tunnel in a huff after a characteristically chaotic cameo during Sunday's 4-2 win over Tottenham, Nunez deleted every single image of himself in a Liverpool shirt from his Instagram account – bar his profile picture.
We don't yet know why, though it has been claimed that Nunez – and even his partner – suffered online abuse after his latest error-strewn display. If true, Nunez has every reason to be upset with the supposed Liverpool supporters in question, who have been called out by Jurgen Klopp in the past.
It would also be understandable if the "resilience" he has so often relied on to get him through tough times is now wavering. Indeed, it's worth remembering that Nunez has been targeted by trolls for nearly two years, dismissed as an expensive transfer flop before he'd even played a competitive fixture for Liverpool. It's "a crazy world out there," as Klopp said all the way back in the summer of 2022.
However, while Nunez deserves sympathy, he is not exempt from scrutiny – and certainly not from the vast majority of fans who have stood by him since his arrival at Anfield. In fact, at a time when the future of several key Liverpool players is being discussed, it is only right that Nunez's role in a new era at Anfield comes under the spotlight – because the unpredictable Uruguayan remains a riddle, a lightning-quick contradiction who continues to excite and frustrate in equal measure.
AdvertisementGettyFaith rewarded
Even during his difficult debut season, the potential was obvious to Reds. Their £64 million ($80m) signing from Benfica was erratic but electrifying. When he was on the field, it felt like anything could – and probably would – happen.
It looked like they would be rewarded for their patience, too. Nunez started the current season on the bench, but slowly and surely began to come good. There were still some inexplicable misses and dreadful decisions, but it was clear that he had got to grips with what Klopp was asking of him from a defensive perspective, while his end product also improved enormously. As well as 31 goal involvements in all competitions, there were also decisive displays against the likes of Newcastle, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
However, the fans' faith in the forward is now being tested once again, after a frankly calamitous conclusion to the campaign.
GettyGoal drought
Nunez hasn't scored in eight consecutive appearances in all competitions, but is hardly solely to blame for Liverpool's late-season collapse. Several players have struggled terribly during the run-in, primarily due to the effects of physical and mental fatigue caused by a horrific, mid-season injury crisis.
The strikers didn't just stop scoring, after all; the defenders couldn't keep clean sheets either. Indeed, Liverpool haven't recorded a shutout in the Premier League since the 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest on March 2. Nunez scored the winner that day, coming off the bench to spark wild scenes of celebration in the away end at the City Ground with a well-taken header in the dying seconds of the game.
However, he has scored just one goal since, and even that arrived in highly fortuitous circumstances at the start of April, with Nunez deflecting an attempted clearance by Sheffield United goalkeeper Ivo Grbic into the back of the net.
Getty Not just missing chances…
What's followed has been tough to watch (at least for his loyal followers). Nunez squandered gilt-edged opportunities against Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Everton – the games that derailed Liverpool's title challenge – as well as the fatal first-leg loss to Atalanta in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Furthermore, what really grated was not the fact that he missed the chances, but how he did so. So many shots have been blindly blasted at goal, as if absolutely zero thought was given to the attempted finish, while on other occasions, Nunez seemed to completely overlook the more obvious and far easier option to score. Sometimes, he just did both.
For example, against Spurs on Sunday, he was put through on goal by a sublime through-ball from Mohamed Salah inside the Liverpool half. With Guglielmo Vicario haring out of his area, the most logical decision was to use the pace on the pass to take the ball around the over-committed Italian. Nunez instead opted to shoot straight at the goalkeeper, which helps explain why he has such an atrocious conversion rate (11.11 percent) this season.