Darwin Nunez says he is struggling to find his confidence in front of goal after blanking again against Rangers and says he ‘doesn’t understand’ what Jurgen Klopp says.
The Uruguayan star arrived from Benfica in the summer in a deal that could reach £85m but he has only netted once in the Premier League – in Liverpool’s first game of the season – and is struggling to live up to his huge price tag.
He missed three games, including a 9-0 drubbing of Bournemouth, due to suspension and has been heavily out-scored by Roberto Firmino, while he again fired blanks in the start against Rangers in Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League win.
Nunez’s slow start has looked even more pronounced given the superb form of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Klopp has fielded countless questions about his record signing’s problems.
Now the 23-year-old himself has addressed his patchy form since moving to Anfield and suggested he is second-guessing himself, while he also revealed that he struggles to grasp what Klopp says and needs his team-mates to translate for him.
Speaking after the game against Rangers, Nunez was asked by ESPN Colombia about Klopp’s gameplan and he said: ‘The truth is that, honestly, in the team talks he speaks and I don’t understand anything.
‘I then ask my team-mates to tell me what he said. But I think he is very clear about his game.
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‘He asks us to make things simple, to not be afraid to play, to have confidence. And then when we lose the ball he wants us to press. That’s what he always asks for.’
Moving on to his own struggles to adapt at the club, Nunez added: ‘Sometimes I feel indecisive, I don’t feel confident at all.
‘But as training sessions go by and matches [that will increase]. The coach himself always gives me confidence.
‘So do [assistant manager] Pep [Lijnders] and [elite development coach] Vitor [Matos], who speak Portuguese and always translate for me.
‘And then I have my team-mates who talk to me and tell me to be calm. When they speak to me it calms me because I know that if I do something wrong, they’ll always have my back.’
