Liverpool's Darwin Nunez has perfect response for critics after Copa America strike

Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez is rarely boring. He continued to provide good value on and off the pitch in his latest outing with Uruguay, sending a laudable message to his critics after finding the back of the net.

Uruguay was kicking off its Copa America campaign against Panama. Nunez made the result safe with an 85th minute volley on his left foot to make it 2-0 — although there would end up being two further goals, one for each side, to make the final score 3-1.

But if his hattrick on a recent international outing showed Arne Slot his potential, this game perhaps prepared the Liverpool boss for the day-to-day reality of managing Nunez. Many of the frustrations Jurgen Klopp faced were on display.

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Prior to his assured finish, Nunez had missed a series of better chances. He hit one straight at the goalkeeper after being released one-on-one, and spooned another wide of the right post when it looked as though he would be able to steer it into the corner.

Fortunately, Nunez had a very level-headed response at full time. He took a philosophical view of the missed chances (via Anfield Sector on X):

"I'm going to make five or 10 mistakes, but I'm going to try 11 times. You should never give up, otherwise nothing will ever come of it.”

One thing you have to say of Nunez is that he has encapsulated this philosophy since coming to Liverpool. While frustration has visibly got the better of him on occasion, the one thing he has never stopped doing is shooting.

Over the last year, Nunez is in the 99th percentile among forwards in Europe's top five leagues for shots per 90. He averages a whopping 4.85 per game (FBRef).

Accordingly, his 'expected goals' tally is way up in the 98th percentile, and even his haul of actual goals sits in the 79th percentile. He may be infuriating at times, but he reaps the rewards of continuing to plug away and get in the right positions.

Ideally, Slot will find a way to get the ratio of "mistakes" to goals closer to the five mark than the 10 figure. But Nunez looks as though he will be heading into the new Liverpool campaign with exactly the right attitude

Liverpool.com says: Fair play to Nunez. He's had to endure flak from an awful lot of critics, and has still faced a spotlight on his misses in a game where he scored an excellent goal, but continues to take a wise approach.

Of course, he is not immune to negative feedback. But his game has never been unduly affected, and he has all the tools to be a hugely valuable weapon under Slot.