Arne Slot admitted he was left consuming his phrases after Darwin Nunez‘s wondergoal towards Bournemouth, with the Liverpool head coach happy along with his work fee.
Nunez made his first begin of the season in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Anfield, marking it with a spectacular aim curled in along with his left foot.
It got here in a powerful efficiency from the No. 9, who appears to have taken Slot’s feedback on board about contributing off the ball as a lot as he does within the field.
However in his post-match press convention, the pinnacle coach revealed his instant response as Nunez lined as much as shoot for his aim – one which many followers have skilled over the previous two years.
“My first intuition when he shot was ‘why does he shoot?’,” Slot instructed reporters.
“I needed to say ‘why don’t you retain on dribbling?’, as a result of he made the ball free and I feel the defender was on the bottom.
“However then it was a fraction of a second later once I noticed the ball went in off the submit.
“I used to be like ‘OK, possibly you’re a higher soccer participant than I used to be previously’. Good selection from him!”
Slot bowed to Nunez’s higher judgment in that occasion, however it’s crucial that the Uruguayan continues to comply with his directions in an effort to preserve his place.
Within the buildup to Saturday’s sport, Slot defined how Diogo Jota was extra of a pure “nine-and-a-half” whereas he noticed Nunez as a “goal man,” however the latter confirmed on Saturday that he’s comfy dropping deep and urgent excessive.
“That’s what I observed as effectively,” he replied when requested about Nunez’s work fee specifically.
“After all, I play a striker as a result of I like him to attain targets; I play a winger as a result of I like him to help or to attain targets.
“As a result of if you wish to win a sport, you want to rating targets.
“Nevertheless it additionally helps if you happen to preserve a clear sheet. We simply spoke in regards to the leadup to each targets [for Luis Diaz], Ibou was concerned on this, however conserving a clear sheet, Darwin can also be concerned on this.
“So at the start they should work actually laborious for the group after which at first of the season it was Mo who made the distinction, with Lucho, then it was Cody, and Diogo has been concerned in targets.
“At this time it was Lucho and Darwin. That’s all we need to see.”
As Slot famous, the first position of Liverpool’s central striker will likely be to attain targets, and discovering the again of the web in his first begin ought to stand Nunez in good stead.
The continuing goal will likely be to take action persistently, with the Dutchman hinting that he could also be given an opportunity to construct on this towards West Ham on Wednesday evening.
“I feel you get consistency by two issues, work fee and group efficiency,” Slot defined.
“If the group efficiency just isn’t constant it’s so tough for a person to be constant as effectively.
“We simply should create our habits day-to-day on the coaching floor and within the video games to get this consistency, as a result of whereas working in your habits you create consistency.
“That’s what we attempt to do on daily basis and he confirmed in the present day a superb sport, possibly he can present it on Wednesday once more, however let’s wait and see.”
Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth
