Pundit Ian Wright thinks Liverpool players need to be more willing to play balls in behind for striker Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool drew 1-1 with Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, coming from a goal down to secure a point at Anfield.
John Stones opened the scoring but Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty levelled it up with Liverpool looking much the better side after the break.
The penalty came thanks to Darwin Nunez chasing down a stray pass, tempting a foul from City goalkeeper Ederson.
The Uruguayan wasn’t really at his best on Sunday but Ian Wright thinks the problems partly lie with the supply into him…
Ian Wright on Darwin Nunez
Arsenal legend Wright was speaking on Monday Night Football for Sky Sports (12/03, 7:45pm), analysing Nunez’s performance.
Wright pinpointed moments just before Liverpool’s equaliser in which Nunez was on the shoulder of the last man and looking to get in behind.
Yet when midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai had the chance to play him in, he chose other options – not once but twice – in a matter of seconds.
Wright noted that Nunez was disappointed because Szoboszlai wasn’t sending the ball into him, and he got so fed up that he started chasing play himself – leading to the penalty.
£60m star Szoboszlai is a quality midfielder but Wright feels that he should be looking to pass to Nunez more as he’s constantly making runs.
Wright also spotted Nunez getting ‘despondent’ because the ball wasn’t coming into him, not just from Szoboszlai but also from defender Jarell Quansah.
Nunez ‘lost interest’ in play because the ball wasn’t coming into him, and that meant he drifted offside by the time the ball finally came into him.
Wright feels that Nunez just doesn’t know when he’s going to get the ball and thinks Liverpool players should be more willing to just fire the ball in behind defences for Nunez to chase.
“For me, now, I think that Szoboszlai can put that in,” said Wright. “Look at him, he’s disappointed with that because Szoboszlai has got to be, at some stage, looking to get that touch and get it over there. He’s ready to go again, he’s not done it again. He’s not in the wrong and at some stage, they’ve got to be looking to put him in, he’s constantly making runs.”
“He keeps going but I think he gets despondent. You’ve got Quansah here, I think he should be making more of a move; look how much time and space Quansah has got, look how much space is in here. He’s not doing enough, but at the same time, somebody should be telling Quansah ‘if you’re here and no-one’s on you, hit him over here’ because he’s a willing runner, he wants to do that. He will try to run but watch him lose interest now… he’s lost interest and now the ball has gone. What’s happening is he doesn’t know when he’s going to get it from them, he’s making his moves and he doesn’t know,” he added.
Nunez kept running offside on Sunday with his movement becoming a little frustrating.
Maybe it was partly the poor service and partly Nunez not being switched on in certain situations.
One frustrating moment saw Nunez set up Luis Diaz to score, but he had made his run far too early and was flagged offside.
Liverpool will need more from Nunez between now and the end of the season and Jurgen Klopp may well be tempted to tell his players to play a few more balls in behind in future.
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