Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez has admitted he has not been performing at the level that he should have been lately. Arriving for international duty with Uruguay, he spoke to reporters at the airport with some honest comments.
"I’m happy thinking about the national team, enjoying every minute with it," he is quoted as saying in El Pais. "These are moments that one goes through in football, and as I said recently, I’m not someone who throws in the towel because they don’t play.
"Rather I’m going to keep working so I can play. I know I’m not performing as well as I should. It’s difficult because when you’re doing well, like when I came on against PSG, your confidence changes, with the idea of being able to break it in the next match. But then you get a slump, and I’m always there to help my teammates when I come back to the national team."
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Nunez has scored just seven times this season in all competitions and missed a penalty as Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League a week ago. Arne Slot has often gone with Luis Diaz through the center of his attack in recent months, while Diogo Jota started the campaign as the first choice before his progress was stunted by injuries.
"You try to make some changes and you go to a number nine who is stronger in the air than Diogo is," Slot said after the weekend's Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley when Nunez failed to make an impact. "You hope Darwin can make it a bit more difficult for defenders to win all the long balls that in the first half I think Dan Burn won every duel.
"You try to influence it like this and you show them at half-time that in the few moments that are left when the ball is on the ground that we have a bit more time than we think and we could make better decisions and I saw that immediately after half-time. We played through them a bit more in the second half, not a lot but a bit."
"The ball doesn’t want to go in," Nunez continued. But he thinks the international break could help him reset with a clear goal: "To forget a little about what’s happening there, and besides, there’s nothing more beautiful for a player than wearing your country’s jersey," he added.
Liverpool.com says: Nunez has really struggled for form this season and when he has had chances, he hasn't really taken them. This international break should provide a chance to switch off for a bit. Come the summer, it might be wise for him to move on.
At this point, three years into his career with the Reds, he hasn't yet got going. Liverpool should be able to find an upgrade, with there having been interest in Nunez from Saudi Arabia in the winter transfer window.
