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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jacob Leeks

Darwin Nunez's outburst towards Virgil van Dijk underlines worrying Liverpool problem

Suggestions that Darwin Nunez has a confidence problem have re-emerged after footage of his frustrated outburst towards Virgil van Dijk was found.

Nunez became Liverpool 's record signing in the summer transfer window when they bought him from Benfica. But he has struggled to have the impact to match his price tag and is currently on a run of six games without a goal in all competitions.

His frustrations appear to be growing as he continues to fail to get on the scoresheet for the Reds. Those came to the fore on Tuesday night when Jurgen Klopp's side claimed a 2-0 win over Rangers in the Champions League.

New footage has emerged of Nunez venting his frustration towards Van Dijk as he again failed to score. Five minutes before half-time, the striker can be seen turning towards the Dutchman as they ran back into position.

He then appeared to say: “No quiere entrar hermano,” to Van Dijk, who had seemingly given him some encouragement. That phrase roughly translates to: “It (the ball) doesn’t want to go in, brother.”

Nunez had started up-front for the Reds at Anfield, but endured another disappointing night. He had six shots in total, with four of those on target and seeing another one blocked by the Rangers defence.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Darwin Nunez keep his place in the Liverpool team despite his poor form? Comment below.

But he found Rangers keeper Allan McGregor in inspired form, with the Scot making a number of impressive saves to keep Nunez out. The Portuguese star had joked that some of his troubles came from an inability to understand Klopp.

"The truth is, I honestly don't understand anything when he (Klopp) talks in team talks. Of course, I ask my teammates to see what he said, but I think he is very clear about his style of play," he said.

"Sometimes I feel a little indecisive, I don’t feel completely confident. But as time goes on, it gets better. The coach always gives me confidence, like Pep and Vitor, who are the ones who always translate for us. He gives me confidence.

“And also my companions, who always talk to me, tell me to stay calm. When they talk, I feel calmer because I know that if I do something wrong, they will always support me. And I will also always be here to support them, it’s a very united group.

“I have to show my game to the coach and be calmer when it’s time to shoot. The goal will come. It’s like ketchup, when it comes out a little, it all comes out.”

Klopp is remaining calm about the problems that Nunez has been facing since his arrival. And he insisted that despite his lack of a goal on Tuesday night that Nunez put in an impressive performance.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is remaining calm about Nunez's poor form (REUTERS)

"The way the boys moved up front today together I thought was extremely, extremely good for only one session working on it, to be honest. We never did it before," the Liverpool boss said.

"We had now one session with a low intensity because we only played recently. So, you just see how good a striker Darwin is to be constantly in these situations. I think everybody saw tonight that this [scoring goals] will happen, so all good."

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