“You’re just a s**t Andy Carroll!”
Darwin Nunez did not take long to silence the West Ham fans on Wednesday night, heading home what would prove to be Liverpool’s winner for his first Anfield goal in Red moments after the Hammers travelling support had started to mock him.
Granted, his lack of English probably means he had little idea what was being aimed at him. But regardless, he made them eat their words with arguably his most impressive performance yet for Jurgen Klopp ’s side.
The £64m man now boasts five goals from his first 12 appearances for Liverpool, including three in his last three starts. In truth, he should have registered a hatful with it already a regular occurrence where fans leave matches wondering how the Uruguayan has not scored more.
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It was the same case against the Hammers as Nunez registered six shots on goal in his 57 minutes on the pitch before being withdrawn as a precaution. As well as his goal, he unleashed a thunderous volley against the post after bringing the ball down on his chest, before putting the rebound wide, and was left cursing Lukasz Fabianski after the Pole tipped an equally-impressive half-volley over the bar.
Yet he’d waste one glorious chance, shooting rashly straight at the keeper when one-on-one, and would send a wild effort high and wide into the Kop from an acute angle shortly before being substituted.
A 23-year-old tasked with replacing Sadio Mane when adjusting to a new country and the Premier League, while also joining an injury-struck side in something of transition, it was clear Nunez was always going to be a work-in-progress. Despite the West Ham supporters’ misguided taunts, the striker is an obvious talent.
Admittedly a raw talent, but a talent nonetheless. And Klopp is well-aware of such a fact.
“He is an exceptional talent, we can see that,” the German said after the game. “The runs, the physicality, the speed, the finishing skills are exceptional, he has a good technique but doesn’t use them all the time.
“Sometimes he’s in a rush so the first contact goes a little bit but as everything is there, we’re really excited. Most of the time when you’re young, you have time to develop. We’re working on it.”
Opposing supporters flocked to mock Nunez in pre-season when the striker failed to score in his first two outings against Manchester United and Crystal Palace, with clips of his ‘lowlights’ going viral. Such behaviour was swiftly stopped in its tracks by a four-goal haul against RB Leipzig.
But after scoring in his first two competitive appearances against Man City and Fulham, his red card suffered against Crystal Palace stopped Nunez’s progress in its tracks. A two-month goal drought followed, admittedly only spread across six games, before he netted against Arsenal earlier this month.
As a result, with rival fans so desperate to see the big-money striker fail, such scrutiny over his performances has continued to grow, with strikes against the Gunners and Rangers not silencing his critics as West Ham found out to their cost on Wednesday night.
An agent of chaos, you can’t dispute that Nunez has made things happen in every one of his Liverpool appearances so far. A constant nuisance who you can’t take your eyes off, the finishing and technique might be a little rash at times, but the physicality, speed and work-rate ensure he is just a thorn defences can’t get rid of, until Klopp substitutes him prematurely of course.
Such attributes are exactly why Reds supporters have taken to the 23-year-old so quickly, regularly chanting his name at matches to pay tribute to every eye-catching contribution, while he was afforded a standing ovation when leaving the pitch against West Ham. Predictably unpredictable, you never know what he’s going to do next and that’s all part of the fun.
A return of five goals from his first 12 games, with only six of those starts, is more than admirable for a young striker adjusting to new surroundings. It deserves more respect from outside than Nunez has been treated to so far.
After all, since FSG signed Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll in a £57.8m double swoop on transfer deadline day in January 2011, they have parted with roughly £435m to sign 19 different forwards . Already the most costly, having been snapped up for an initial £64m from Benfica, Nunez is already posed to be one of their best.
Returning a goal every 0.42 matches so far, only Mohamed Salah, Daniel Sturridge, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota boast a more prolific return from their first 12 months at Anfield. Even then, the Senegalese and Portuguese’s record of 0.45 and 0.43 is only marginally better than Nunez’s with his own totals certain to improve as the season goes on and he starts more and more.
Meanwhile at the other end of the scale, in 12 games he has already outscored Fabio Borini (two), Iago Aspas (one), Rickie Lambert (three), Mario Balotelli (four), Danny Ings (three), Dominic Solanke (one) and Takumi Minamino (four) from their own first year in Red.
Compatriot Suarez returned a comparable four goals from 13 appearances in his first half-season at Liverpool, with his record standing at 12 goals from 34 appearances at the end of his maiden year. In contrast, Carroll, the player Nunez is supposed a 's**t' version of, boasted just seven goals from 37 appearances in those first 12 months. All being well, the Uruguayan will have bettered such a total before the Premier League breaks up for the World Cup next month.
During the FSG era, Salah (44 goals from 52 games) and Sturridge (22 goals from 30 games) are the only players to break the 20-goal barrier in their first year with Liverpool. Meanwhile, along with Suarez, Divock Origi (10 in 33), Roberto Firmino (11 in 49), Christian Benteke (10 in 42), Mane (13 in 29), Jota (13 in 30) and Luis Diaz (10 in 38) are the only other forwards to return double-figures.
Considering Benteke is the only ‘flop’ in such a list with the others all boasting every major honour going between them, this is the company Nunez is poised to join come the end of the season if he can build on his promising start. And this is only the beginning, with instant impacts at Anfield rare in recent times.
"It's difficult, obviously it's difficult," Klopp reminded journalists earlier this week when discussing the need to be patient with his £64m striker. "We had this discussion, I don't know how often, pretty much always when we sign somebody.
"It's not too important which position. There are always exceptions like Virgil stepped in and was there. Mo, pretty much as well, Sadio also. A lot of the other boys had to adapt.
"The younger you are, and we should not forget how young Darwin is, and the quicker your career went before. All the steps were big, big steps he made. Incredible, really quick. Completely normal.
"The Premier League is the strongest league in the world, the most competitive league in the world. On top of that the team not starting particularly well. It's not helpful for a striker as well.
"I like his impact, really. He's a machine. He's physically incredibly strong. He gets there and in training, you can see him getting better every day. You can really see how he settles more and more. He's in the team now, mind-wise 100%. He's arrived completely.
"He wants to score more goals, and set up more goals as well. That will all happen, but it always takes time."
In truth, behind Salah and Sturridge, the aforementioned players’ returns all seem quite meagre in comparison to what was to come, highlighting how impressive Nunez’s start has actually been despite what outsiders might tell you.
On the evidence so far, the 23-year-old should have no problem bettering best of the rest Mane and Jota’s maiden 13-goal hauls. Truth be told, he could easily already be considerably closer to such a return if not for some of his unlucky misses.
But perhaps what has made it harder for Nunez has been the performance of Erling Haaland for title-rivals Man City 35 miles down the road at the Etihad. A similar build of forward, in terms of being an incredibly quick targetman (something you could never accuse Carroll of being), his return of 20 goals from his first 14 games is quite frankly obscene. You can’t compete and you can’t compare anyone with that.
Just because the Uruguayan hasn’t matched such levels though certainly doesn’t make him a flop. Haaland is a pristine thoroughbred, with Nunez more a battered and bruised underground street fighter.
But that’s why the Kop already loves him so, with their latest flawed hero far more fascinating than City’s apparent demigod.
The transfer fees involved have not aided such a narrative, with add-ons ensuring Nunez will become Liverpool’s record buy and cost them up to £85m if he delivers goals and trophies. In contrast, City activated a £51.2m release clause to lure Haaland away from Borussia Dortmund.
Yet his reported £64m wages over the course of a six-year deal pale in comparison to the £117m the Norwegian will apparently pick up over the next five years. Scratch beneath the surface, beyond the basic transfer fee, and one club is clearly parting with a considerably higher outlay than the other on their big-money forward. That is no surprise, though one only hopes City bosses don’t find offence in such a suggestion.
While reports have already suggested Haaland is only passing through at the Etihad and already eyeing up his next big-money move across the continent, Nunez is a long-term Reds investment and his start to life at Liverpool suggests he will indeed be a success.
If this is the Uruguayan being a 's**t Andy Carroll', the Premier League won’t know what’s hit it when the 'real' one arrives.
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