Few players have attracted as much preseason attention as Darwin Nunez lately. On Thursday afternoon, the Uruguayan gave plenty of voices to see to the naysayers. Mohamed Salah got the Reds going, but from then on, it was the Darwin Nunez show. The 23-year-old opened his Liverpool account in the pre-season with a penalty before a superb clinical finish doubled his tally less than three minutes later. Nunez continued to show great movement inside the zone and when he called the serve came. Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho gave Klopp something to think about with virtuoso second-half displays. The pair each provided an assist for Nunez to score his third and fourth goals as Liverpool ran out 5-0 winners in Germany. MATCH REPORT: Darwin Nunez explodes with four-goal blitz to spark Liverpool’s heavy win in Leipzig Speaking after the match, Klopp joked about the decision to let Nunez take the penalty: “Mo (Salah), I’m not sure if it’s in his new contract, but he was generous to give Darwin the penalty!” The decision to let Nunez take the penalty was likely to give the striker a boost when he opened his account. When the same situation arises next season, Salah will almost certainly be the one with the ball in hand. Of the resounding win overall, Klopp said (via Liverpool’s official website): “I would have bought it really. It’s really nice. “You see everything. First half – good moments, less good moments, not enough movement, we have to get used to how difficult it is to play 50, 60, 70 minutes – and at the end 90 or 120. “The human body is like that, you have to get used to it again. When we struggled a bit, always after a three minute break we played football again, then a deep breath and played football again. And I wanted us to be a little harder on ourselves, to get past this point, it’s pre-season and move more. “I think we did in the second half obviously. Hedo came, Milly – they were both lively. Hedo suddenly as an eight, got in behind and we created chances. “Then Mo gives Darwin the penalty and Darwin, Pandora’s box was open. This is of course a perfect night for him.”
Klopp gives Nunez some advice
Nunez came in for a barrage of criticism after his first two preseason appearances. In response, Klopp suggested the Uruguayan – and all modern professionals – avoid the toxic noise generated on the internet. “We always believe that if you pay a lot of money, then the players don’t feel pressure or anything,” Klopp continued. “They’re all completely normal people and the first touch isn’t perfect then all of a sudden… This generation of players reads social media, which really isn’t smart, but they do. “Suddenly you are in a hurry and things like that. This is obviously the best way to stop all these discussions. “He’s a different striker to what we have or what we’ve had, but he’s very good.” Joel Matip added to Nunez’s praise when he claims opposition defenses will be in for an almighty shock next season. “I think everyone is really happy for him and they’ve been rooting for him [in the dressing room]”, said the center midfielder. “Great finishing, great speed and the body he always puts in, I think he will be very difficult for our opponents.”
