Robbie Fowler sends Darwin Nunez message as Liverpool legend agrees with Michael Owen

As one of the greatest goalscorers in Liverpool history, Robbie Fowler is better placed than most to offer his advice to Darwin Nunez.

Only Mohamed Salah has scored more times in the Premier League era than Fowler's tally of 128 in 266 games and the iconic former No.9 has opened up on the current fortunes of the man now in possession of the famous shirt at Anfield.

Nunez hit 18 goals in all competitions for the Reds in his second campaign and was back on the goal trail for Uruguay this week with a hat-trick against Mexico.

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Ahead of that game, the ECHO sat down for a chat with Fowler at Melwood after his FEFA team became the first side at college level to win a domestic treble before adding two more trophies to the haul in the United States.

Darwin Nunez is someone who always manages to make himself a topic or talking point, where do you stand on the Liverpool striker? Because you're better placed than most to give insight into the challenges of scoring goals at Anfield...

"[My opinion] is probably no different to what everyone is going to give you. With Darwin Nunez, he will score goals and he will be a handful but to what level I don't know and it is entirely up to him that, isn't it?

"And I think it is an interesting one because I think we have seen the past we play like he does but we've also seen him miss silly chances and I always think at the minute he looks tentative and he looks worried about something rather than just focusing on the chances or the runs he's got to make. I think when you're a forward, you have got to shut out the outside world if you like and just concentrate on yourself.

"What I used to do if I was having a tough time, you go back to smashing a ball and I know it is not the technical side of things that people want to hear and maybe people are expecting some technical analysis that hasn't been heard before but when you're a striker, it's not about that. It's about going back to basics.

"It's about seeing the net ripple, aiming for corners, but then all of a sudden when you're thinking of things and it gets inside your head, that is what causes the tentativeness, if you like. And that is maybe what Darwin has been guilty of this season, where he is - don't get me wrong, he is focused on scoring - but I genuinely think he is thinking of the outside world and you can't do that. If you do do that, that's a problem.

"He's got to get back to basic, start rolling balls in, it doesn't have to be immaculate. People think you've come in for £60 or £70m and people are expecting everything to be hitting the top corners. Sometimes, you've just got to roll them in to the corners, not everything has to be extraordinary.

"Was it at Brentford where he has tried to chip the keeper? If he's doing that all the time then it is bad forward play. But if he has gone around the keeper or to the side of him, that is what I mean by going back to the basics.

"The best goalscorers are the ones who do the monotony of doing the same thing over and over again. And this is like the second nature of the natural ability of goalscorers; if you're doing the same thing over and over then the game becomes easier. But if you're trying to do something different every time there's a ball then it looks unusual or unorthodox and I think that is maybe what he has been guilty of.

"He is trying too hard at times. Will he get to the level that we hope or think? I don't think that he will and that's not being a knock on him and I am not being derogatory because I would never do that, he is a Liverpool player and I want him to be the very best, but he just needs to go back to delivering what he was doing when he was younger, the basics I've seen and then not trying all the technically unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime things. He does seem to think about things too much and I am not sure you can as a forward."

You mentioned that goal at Brentford there and Michael Owen came under fire at the time for his analysis saying it was too difficult a finish and while it was a brilliant goal, he'd be better off squaring it because of how tough that chip is to execute...

"I thought Michael was good on how he spoke about that, Michael wouldn't have squared it but he would've tried a shot or gone around the keeper and look I'm not having a go at Darwin because he has scored the goal but the reality is it was probably a one-off.

"I thought Michael's point was very, very good, actually in terms of how the game was but there's no chance when you're in that position, one on one with the goalkeeper, you've got to score. As a goalscorer you've got to be greedy and say that it is your goal. There are probably easier ways to score and I think that was what Michael was alluding to.

"I was dedicated in terms of what I wanted and needed to do to become a player. And this is what I mean about the monotony and the repetition of doing the same thing over and over again. I was out every day doing simple stuff and then all of a sudden, when you get to a point, you don't think about it any more and that is where the natural ability comes from if you like, or the second nature of it all."

People always say you were a natural finisher but I know that's something you've pushed back on in the past as it does a disservice to how hard you worked. Can a player like Nunez still improve with time and effort on the pitches by themselves now?

"I was so determined and focused on where I wanted to go that I wanted to do that. Again, you get to a point where it's the modern age now and I didn't have enough as they do now in terms of the analysis tools and the computers and the laptops, I just had football.

"Kids nowadays have different aspects and toys to play with and I was football non-stop. The monotony of football, I loved it. I wanted to get better. That is the big plus point, you've got to want to do it. It's no good telling people what they need to do, if they don't want to do it, you're fighting an uphill battle.

"That's with training at the time. It got the point with me where the sports science side of things were saying I couldn't do too much after training but I wanted to do it with all different types of finishing all the time and the feeling and excitement of seeing the ball hitting the back of the net from an extra training session, if you like, that was something I wanted to do to be honest.

"I was probably a nightmare for coaches because I wanted to do more than what anyone else wanted to do. I know the game has changed and maybe the sports science involvement limits that because they want you to look after your body but there is definitely something to be said for it because the sports science has been in the game a while but football has been going years and years and people have always done more.

"OK, you're going to get a few injuries and a few little niggles and aches and pains but as long as you're doing it right, there is a case to say if you want to be the very best in whatever position you want to play, go and do extra bits to improve, go and do a little bit more. I am sure coaches would help you."