Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has had a chat with striker Darwin Nunez about the striker’s difficult start at Liverpool, assuring the player that the team’s inconsistent form has hampered his adaptation.
The Uruguayan has made two starts since joining from SL Benfica this summer for an initial fee of 64 million pounds, which could rise to a club record fee of 85 million. He scored in his first two club appearances, against Manchester City in the Community Shield and at Fulham on the first day of the Premier League season before receiving a three-match ban for violent conduct when he butted Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen.
Nunez has been on the bench for the last three games, and Klopp started Diogo Jota ahead of him in Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Brighton, in which the Reds dropped points for the fifth time in seven league games.
Klopp has assured the 23-year-old that his time will come ahead of a crucial period of the season, with Liverpool hosting Rangers in the Champions League on Tuesday and visiting league leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
“He’s good. Of course he’s still adapting, how players always adapt. New players come in and everybody talks about them and wants them to shine immediately, that happens from time to time and sometimes not.
“Only yesterday we had a long talk with Pep Lijnders because my Portuguese is still not better. We just told him we are really calm. It’s really important in our situation that he isn’t looking like he is worrying or whatever.
“The team is not flying, and that makes it not easier for a striker especially not for a finisher. It’s not that we aren’t creating chances, but it’s not like everything is clicking and we put in one player and he finishes our situation off. That’s not our situation at the moment as much as I wish it would be. That’s all,”
the German said.
Klopp has added that it has been difficult to establish momentum due to disruptions in Liverpool’s schedule – two of the club’s games were postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last month.
After a 1-4 defeat in Napoli in their Champions League opener, the team beat AFC Ajax with a last-gasp winner but then went nearly three weeks without playing. The compressed schedule this season is exacerbated by the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will kick off on November 20.
