Arne Slot admitted he was left consuming his phrases after Darwin Nunez‘s wondergoal in opposition to 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 objective curled in along with his left foot.
It got here in a robust efficiency from the No. 9, who seems 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 quick response as Nunez lined as much as shoot for his objective – one which many followers have skilled over the previous two years.
“My first intuition when he shot was ‘why does he shoot?’,” Slot informed reporters.
“I wished to say ‘why don’t you retain on dribbling?’, as a result of he made the ball free and I believe 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’. Sensible choice 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 with the intention to maintain 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 snug dropping deep and urgent excessive.
“That’s what I observed as effectively,” he replied when requested about Nunez’s work fee specifically.
“In fact, 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, it’s worthwhile to rating targets.
“But it surely additionally helps should you maintain a clear sheet. We simply spoke concerning the leadup to each targets [for Luis Diaz], Ibou was concerned on this, however protecting a clear sheet, Darwin can be concerned on this.
“So at first they should work actually exhausting for the crew 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 the moment it was Lucho and Darwin. That’s all we wish to see.”
As Slot famous, the first function of Liverpool’s central striker shall 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 shall be to take action persistently, with the Dutchman hinting that he could also be given an opportunity to construct on this in opposition to West Ham on Wednesday night time.
“I believe you get consistency by two issues, work fee and crew efficiency,” Slot defined.
“If the crew efficiency just isn’t constant it’s so troublesome for a person to be constant as effectively.
“We simply should create our habits daily 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 each day and he confirmed right this moment an excellent sport, possibly he can present it on Wednesday once more, however let’s wait and see.”
Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth
