Michael Owen was left impressed by Darwin Nunez’s goal and performance as Liverpool recorded a 1-0 win over West Ham United at Anfield on Wednesday night, as he told Premier League Productions (19/10/22 at 10:55 pm).
The former striker labelled Nunez as a ‘real powerful runner’ and someone who is still ‘rough around the edges’ – it’s been suggested by FTBL on Twitter that Nunez recorded a sprint speed of 38 KM/H, the fastest-ever during the Premier League era and surpassing Kyle Walker previous record of 37.8 KM/H.
That’s some going for a player standing at 6ft 2, but it just goes to show the weapons the 23-year-old has in his armoury.
As Erling Haaland is proving over at Manchester City, if you combine speed with brute strength and quick-thinking intelligence at that height, then not many people can stop you.
Nunez started off life in Liverpool colours in a pretty positive fashion when he scored from the bench during his side’s Community Sheild win over Manchester City, before tasting the other side of the emotions when he was sent off against Fulham.
All in all, it has been a mixed start to life on Merseyside for Nunez, which is now taking a positive spin, as Owen shared his thoughts on the player.
“Yeh, I think so (Nunez starting to settle in),” said Owen. “It was a stop-start to his campaign. Of course, the red card didn’t help.
“He does look a little rough around the edges, for me still. He could have (had a hat-trick). He hit the post with a great effort.
“I love the way, he’s a real powerful and aggressive runner and he doesn’t mind running away from goal, so he will start central and he will run into channels. I like a lot of what he does.
“Then, sometimes, I think ‘woah, that’s a little, as I said rough around the edges’. I think he has a lot of improvement to come. I like his attitude. He plays on the edge and scored an important goal.”
NUNEZ WILL ONLY GET BETTER
The unfortunate thing with Nunez is that he’s the victim of social media deciding after only a few weeks whether he is a success or a flop at Liverpool.
Whatever happens with the all-action forward, it’s all going to be laid out on the table during these next few years, not these new few months.
If players are going to be judged after only a few months, then there really is no point, but so far, for a player that has had a lot of negativity thrown at him, he’s done well to have five goals in 12 games in all competitions.
The likes of Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff are crucial here because there is still a lot of rawness to his game, but this is where the Liverpool coaching staff come into their own because they have proven before that they can elevate the game of many players.
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