During the first half of Liverpool’s Champions League match against Bologna, Arne Slot turned to a tactical assistant and hurled some comments that perhaps shouldn’t be repeated here.
It was a strange game, for Liverpool’s confidence and control flowed in like a fierce tide but also ebbed away meekly, with Bologna sure to be rueing their catalogue of misspent opportunities.
Unfortunately for the Italians, they were pitted against Mohamed Salah, who chased their rising optimism back down their throat upon claiming a goal and an assist apiece, extending this season’s haul to six goals and five assists from just nine matches.
What a player. He purrs with life, with energy, with gusto. Salah is enjoying life under Slot’s wing, serving, as ever, as Liverpool’s attacking talisman.
It will come as a surprise to no one that the Egypt international ranks among the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals and the top 3% for assists per 90, as per FBref. One of his generation’s superlative forwards.
1.
Mohamed Salah
22
2.
Kevin De Bruyne
21
2.
Bruno Fernandes
21
4.
Heung-min Son
20
5.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
17
5.
Cole Palmer
17
5.
Dwight McNeil
17
5.
Martin Odegaard
17
It is perhaps curious that he should rank only among the top 20% of positional peers for shot-creating actions per 90, and lower still for various possession-focused metrics. After all, Salah topped the Premier League for big chances created last season. This only points toward his clinical and economical nature.
Weighing up his options, the 32-year-old sliced through La Grassa defences with a whipped delivery for Alexis Mac Allister to guide home from point blank. In the second half, he got on the scoresheet with a sumptuous curling strike into the corner of the net.
What a player indeed. Salah’s performance superseded that of his team, which lacked the fluency and total control that Slot demands.
For Slot’s style to work, so too do the players need to fire on all cylinders. And so if the man at the front of said system, the spearhead, fails to deliver, then it becomes hard to bring it to life and make it purr as one. Darwin Nunez has much to work on.
Darwin Nunez's performance vs Bologna
Nunez has much to work on. At what point does that sentence become stale? At what point does talent lose its weight, flung upward as the scales shift, lever, and the heaviness of criticism takes control?
Let’s give him some credit – Nunez did actually beat Bologna shot-stopper but was ruled offside in what is proving to be a recurring theme. Pundit Steve Nicol was not happy with his performance, telling ESPN: “I’m afraid Mr. Nunez looks a little lost.”
This is concerning. Nunez was afforded a glorious opportunity to stake his claim after missing out on last weekend’s victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers due to illness. It was all just a bit errant, with wasted shooting chances, poor passing and a lack of combativeness prominent.
Slot jumped to his defence post-match, but this does not change the fact that Nunez was hooked on the hour mark having done very little of note, albeit showing initiative and shrewdness to hold off on shooting before the ball was placed out to Salah, who assisted Mac Allister.
That sequence proved that there’s a player in there. But Nunez signed for Liverpool in a deal worth a club-record £85m fee, and he hasn’t proved his worth yet.
Writing in their player ratings, GOAL could only chalk the dynamic striker with a 4/10 score, rebuking him for ‘contributing little other than another disallowed goal after mistiming his run.’
Indeed, his 33% pass success rate, failure to complete an (onside) dribble or win a single ground duel (0/3) is not good. Slot requires success in the duel to become a mainstay in his team.
Just look at Salah, who has won 4.3 ground duels per Premier League match this season compared to just 2.3 per match last year, as per Sofascore. He’s stepped up and showcased a more defensive and combative side to fit into his manager’s plans, even if he’s one of the most destructive goalscorers in the business.
Nunez needs to take it up a notch.
Time to take it up a notch
The existence of Diogo Jota is both a blessing and a curse for a player like Nunez. They are two sides of the same coin in that neither can expectedly start every game at number nine throughout the campaign’s long and winding road.
But Jota is leaps and bounds ahead of his peer in finishing, in composure and confidence and equiaminity. The Portuguese missed out against Bologna due to injury but is anticipated for a swift return against Crystal Palace on Saturday, and you’d think that he’d be unleashed ahead of Nunez, having scored three goals and claimed two assists across eight matches this season, starting seven.
Assuming Jota’s going to be fit for Selhurst Park, he simply has to start. Nunez is too inconsistent, too mercurcial of nature. He needs to find that flowing vein of form, yes, but Liverpool’s wants and needs are more important: top of the Premier League before the October international break, the Reds must ensure they defeat winless Palace.
Slot and his built structure at Liverpool is able to furnish Nunez with all that he needs to be a success. There is enough on display to suggest that the 25-year-old, who still speaks broken English at best, can grow into one of the best strikers of his generation.
The Uruguayan posted 18 goals and 13 assists across all competitions last season. Contextualising this: Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr., who is regarded to be the frontrunner to win the Ballon d’Or, scored 24 goals and assisted 11 more in 2023/24, which is not a world away.
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