Liverpool endured a hugely frustrating time of things in the opening 45 minutes against Manchester City at Anfield this afternoon.
The Reds were playing some good football but could not find a way past Ederson and a lot of the time, saw attacks break down into nothing.
Indeed, a lot of the time it was as a result of Darwin Nunez being offside. The big striker was caught offside five times in the opening 45 minutes, matching the biggest amount anyone has been offside in a full game all season.
And speaking about Liverpool and Nunez at half-time on Sky Sports, former Red Jamie Carragher admitted that Nunez had to be better as he was ‘killing’ his teammates.
Speaking about the frustrations for Liverpool in the opening 45 minutes, Carragher was quick to point out Nunez’s problems in being offside.
“Mac Allister has to be more aggressive at the near post. It’s more about Man City’s quality, but you can always do more to avoid conceding a goal. Nunez has to stay onside more as it’s killing certain attacks. I think Klopp has to bring Andy Robertson on that left side for Gomez. He’s found it tough on that side,” Carragher said.
There was a mention of Erling Haaland only being offside only once this season and that in itself should say a lot about how far Darwin Nunez has to go.
The Uruguayan striker has so many attributes to his game but he also has so much to learn at the same time.
As mentioned, the stat about Haaland is quite eye-opening and it should really encourage Nunez to go away and really work on this element of his game.
In big games like today and in title winning teams, small margins matter. Nunez, then, has some work to do before he’s the finished article.
