Darwin Nunez sparks 'incredible' Arne Slot admission as Liverpool stance unchanged
Mere mention of Liverpool taking on Newcastle United immediately conjures up memories of goal-laden clashes throughout the Premier League era. Indeed, that trend continued back in December when the teams played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at St James' Park.
Last season's trip to the North East, though, was all about one player, Darwin Nunez stepping off the bench late on to turn the game on its head by scoring twice and transforming imminent defeat into a 2-1 win.
The Reds striker was at it again last month when emerging to score an injury-time brace and earn Liverpool victory at Brentford. His most recent substitute appearances, though, have been somewhat less effective, an indifferent showing at home to Wolves followed by an alarming cameo at Aston Villa not helped by a poor miss in the 2-2 draw.
READ MORE: Arne Slot could not resist Mohamed Salah contract joke as honest claim made over Liverpool future
Those successive shortcomings prompted a public rebuke from Liverpool boss Arne Slot, with Nunez raising eyebrows by posting a message on social media shortly afterwards. And while Slot admits the forward struggled in the immediate aftermath of his Villa Park disappointment, there has been a strong reaction this week on the training ground.
"He was still down about it (the following day)," says the Reds head coach. "As much as I want the number nine to be seen as working hard and do whatever is needed for the team, a normal number nine is focused on goals. I can keep talking to him about work-rate, work-rate, work-rate, but he and any number nine will always be disappointed if he misses a chance. He was still a bit disappointed the day after.
"But yesterday (Monday) he was incredible in the training session when it comes to work-rate. Hopefully he can keep doing this, and whenever the team needs him then he is ready for it if he keeps putting in sessions like he did yesterday."
Reflecting on his decision to openly address Nunez's situation, Slot explained the reasoning behind not keeping his criticism in-house. "First of all, I helped him by saying you can miss a chance," he says. "I wasn't only hard on him. But for the second time in a row I wasn't happy with his work effort, against Wolves and against Villa.
"I always try to be honest with my players and be honest as I can to you guys as well where I always try to protect my players so I don't say he never worked hard. I know him differently. I know him at Villa at home where he made a 100 metre sprint and scored a goal, I know him when he came on against City at home and was pressing really aggressively and wins the ball back and we score.
"But I can't accept if a player doesn't give everything. That is clear. I can accept it once but twice was a bit too much. That's why I addressed it.
"Not that I'm all of a sudden very angry with him. I don't mind that he missed a chance, I'd have loved him to score it, and I know he will eventually score. But if you miss a chance, you need to be fighting for the team. I'm not saying he didn't do that at all, but it wasn't the usual Darwin, the one that is loved by the fans. That is mainly because he always works so hard."
Nunez is pressing for a starting role in attack tonight as Liverpool look to at least maintain their 11-point lead at the Premier League summit. Cody Gakpo, who missed two games before returning from the bench in Sunday's 2-0 win at Manchester City, is expected to start on the left with one of Nunez, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz leading the line.
Having employed a box midfield at the Etihad, Slot is likely to revert to a three-man engine room meaning one of Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai would have to miss out. Elsewhere, Kostas Tsimikas is pressing Andy Robertson for a start at left-back while Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.
One certain starter is Mohamed Salah, whose goal and assist at City moved him on to an astonishing 51 goal involvements in 38 appearances this season.
It prompted renewed questions over Salah's contract situation, with no resolution to ongoing negotiations meaning the player is at present set to leave on a free transfer in the summer.
Slot, though, is not shifting from the club stance. "I think it is a good thing that stays inside this building," he says. "That doesn’t change. I’m not going to talk about that now, I haven’t for seven or eight months so it would be a bit weird if I changed my opinion about that in the upcoming weeks and months."
