new signature Jürgen Klopp might be given the means by Alexis Mac Allister to provide Darwin Nez with the circumstances that Erling Haaland has enjoyed from this season.
Erling Haaland is about to wrap up what has been an exceptionally amazing first year on English soil. The Manchester City striker, who has set records in the Premier League this season by scoring 36 goals in 35 games, might win the Champions League this weekend.
The Norwegian international spoke with Rio Ferdinand on his Between The Lines broadcast on BT Sport ahead of Saturday’s matchup between Hollywood and Inter Milan in Istanbul. Throughout the episode, Haaland said a number of insightful things, some of which might be relevant to a specific Darwin Nez in Merseyside.
At one stage, Ferdinand questioned the 22-year-old about his lack of touches despite his goals, but Haaland provided quite the response. “Look at the players we have; Grealish, De Bruyne, Bernardo. They are the ones who should contact the ball all of the time, I should not be interrupting them too much. I should be in the box, scoring with my first touch.”
His words offer an insight into how he’s been deployed since moving to the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola has appreciated his skillset in Manchester by creating a platform for him to do what he’s good at. He has obviously been instructed to almost stay away from the ball until he can deliver shots on goal.
Indeed, only four players in the Premier League averaged fewer touches per 90 minutes than Haaland this term in Jamie Vardy, Callum Wilson, Brennan Johnson and Diego Costa, and it is worth noting that none of those players represented a team as dominant in possession as Manchester City.
Haaland is a poacher for Guardiola, but Núñez — despite possessing a comparable skillset — has been used differently since his own move from Benfica to Liverpool last summer for an initial fee of $81m (£64m/€75m). The two players are both tall and rapid, and they tend to attract chances like magnets, but they have been used differently at their respective clubs.
The potential of Nez has not yet been fully realized by Jürgen Klopp. The majority of the time, he has played him on the flanks, and when he has played him through the middle, he has effectively been asked to play like Roberto Firmino by settling deeper and forming connections with teammates in withdrawn areas.
In comparison to Firmino or even Cody Gakpo, Nez has occasionally seemed a little clumsy with the ball. He appears to be the kind of player who would benefit from playing in a position similar to Haaland, where he would serve as Liverpool’s spearhead by spending the most of his time in the penalty area and avoiding the build-up.
Klopp could argue that he hasn’t had the players to empower Núñez in such a manner, but perhaps the recent signature of Alexis Mac Allister will help in that sense. Like Grealish, De Bruyne and Bernardo, the Argentine international is technical, shrewd and sensible in possession of the ball
