After Darwin Nunez‘s brace vs. Newcastle put Liverpool fans on cloud nine, Paul Cope and Gareth Roberts took a deeper look into the striker’s finishes.
Sunday was an afternoon of nervous tension for the most part but, when Nunez’s second went in, that anxiety went out the window and in flew ecstasy.
On This Is Anfield‘s podcast with The Late Challenge, Roberts and Cope praised Nunez’s finishes, and the former made an intriguing point on the Uruguayan.
Back in early July, journalist Neil Jones wrote a piece for This Is Anfield, saying: “There is also an acceptance that his composure and finishing technique can both improve significantly too.
“In particular, coaches at Kirkby have urged him to work on his balance and head control, keeping his standing foot away from the ball when striking, particularly across goal.”
That type of finish sounds familiar.
Roberts was quick to point this out on this week’s edition of Live at 5, and made the obvious comparison to the finishes against Newcastle.
He cited Jones’ article, reading: “There is a feeling within the club that it won’t take much before Nunez starts scoring at the kind of rate seen during his last season at Benfica, when he managed 34 goals in 41 appearances.”
• Read Neil Jones’ exclusive piece on Darwin Nunez here
On Monday’s Live at 5 show, the pair referenced how Jurgen Klopp declared Nunez would be more involved after the international break.
Cope insisted there had been nothing to worry about last season for the Uruguayan. He said: “I’ve never had any concerns about him…
“Twelve big chances scored and 28 missed; loads of people misread that I think. When a new striker is missing that many big chances, that’s nothing to be concerned about.
“The thing to be concerned about is when he’s not getting any chances. I always think about who to listen to with stuff like this; I saw Alan Shearer and Ian Wright both say the same thing: ‘Don’t worry about it.’
“If he keeps playing the way he’s playing and getting those chances, he’s going to refine his technique, he’s going to get better and he’s going to start putting them away.”
Last season, legendary Liverpool striker Ian Rush told This Is Anfield similar, explaining: “The most important thing is never be scared to miss because it means you’re doing something right.”
‘Live At 5‘ is a new show from This Is Anfield and The Late Challenge Podcast, with Gareth Roberts and Paul Cope as hosts.
The live show airs each Monday at 5pm (UK) on This Is Anfield’s YouTube, with our second show each Wednesday (UK).
You can also listen as an audio show, here.
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