Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has said striker Darwin Núñez wants to score goals “almost too much” amid ongoing criticism of his performances for the club.
Núñez has struggled for form this season, scoring just three goals in 19 appearances for Slot’s side.
He has started eight of Liverpool’s last eleven games in the absence of the injured Diogo Jota — who could return to the matchday squad against Fulham this weekend after recovering from a rib injury — but he has failed to really make the No. 9 position his own.
The 25-year-old looked disappointed when he was substituted after spurning a number of chances during Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Girona on Tuesday night, however Slot has insisted he is being judged on more than his goal return.
“For me he has impact,” the Liverpool boss said in a news conference on Friday. “If you only look at goals, he hasn’t scored the amount of goals he wants to score, or we want our No. 9 to score but he does have impact in his work rate.
“He’s part of a team that is scoring a lot of goals and is winning a lot. But of course, as a No. 9 you want to score goals and that’s definitely what he wants as well. I’m not only judging Mo [Salah] on his goals. I’m not only judging Darwin on his goals. I’m judging them on their work rate and what they bring to the team and that has been positive until now.
“Maybe also because the fans support him so much, maybe he wants it almost too much to score for himself and also for the fans because they’ve been very supportive of him.”
After the win over Girona, Núñez seemed to acknowledge the recent criticism of his performances in a post to his Instagram story which read: “They are not all, they are some. Thank you Reds for your support, we are all still together.”
Asked whether Núñez has been affected by the outside noise surrounding his form, Slot said: “We all saw it did something to him when he missed the chances on Tuesday. I think everybody then needs an arm around them whether it is from a teammate, the fans or their manager.
“But I also made it clear to him he is not only judged on the goals he scores, he’s also judged on the team performance and he adds something to the team performance. Ideally, he has scored a few goals more, but it is the life of a No. 9, sometimes you score, sometimes you don’t.”