Welcome to the Premier League, Liverpool manager, Arne Slot.
Liverpool were brought back down to earth on Saturday when they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
Callum Hudson-Odoi was the man who inflicted a first defeat of the new Premier League season on Liverpool and their newly-appointed manager.
Before the international break, Liverpool outclassed Manchester United and they were purring like a calmer version of a Jurgen Klopp side in their prime.
But the Reds weren’t just punished from a defensive aspect against Forest, but they also weren’t able to sing and dance like they wanted to in the final third.
Alan Shearer stated that the home team got ‘so frustrated’ with Forest’s tactics because they were ‘really compact’ in the middle of the park.
It resulted in Slot and his players failing to create any real clear-cut chances, with those coming off the bench also struggling to make an impact.
Darwin Nunez was one of the men who came off the bench – he came on for Diogo Jota just after the hour mark – and he was in Shearer’s firing line.
The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer stated that the Liverpool forward ‘wasn’t strong enough’ when battling Nikola Milenkovic for the ball, before it was won back by Forest, they countered and Hudson-Odoi scored the only goal of the game.
Shearer added that Nunez ‘didn’t add anything to the game’ as Liverpool fell to their first defeat of the season, as he told Match of the Day.
Darwin Nunez slammed after Liverpool’s defeat to Nottingham Forest
“They (Nottingham Forest) were absolutely magnificent from start to finish,” said Shearer. “They had a game plan and it worked to perfection – you have to be almost perfect when you go to Anfield, with the form that they have been in, Liverpool, and Forest were. There was just no way through. No spaces. No gaps in the middle. They were really tight. They were really compact and that was a constant all afternoon. Liverpool got so frustrated with how well Forest were playing.
“I mentioned the fullbacks. Moreno. One v one against Salah, no way through there. Come to the other side. Diaz against Aina. No way through again.
“Milenkovic and Murillo, who we will mention, the amount of bodies that are in the middle and they are fighting over each other to close them down. Get in the way of it. Block it. This is actually Forest’s goal, Liverpool were on the attack, Milenkovic was too strong for Nunez when he came on and he didn’t add anything to the game. He wins the ball and then watch the way they break. Elanga and Hudson-Odoi, who came on as subs, it’s a brilliant goal. One end to the other.”
Darwin Nunez’s last chance saloon at Liverpool
There are still issues in Nunez’s game, but after signing for the club in a big-money deal in 2022, he isn’t an established starter yet.
That is now a problem for the team because they can’t afford to carry the player and he needs to deliver as soon as possible.
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Mohamed Salah’s future is up in the air, and if he does leave, then fans will want to know that they have goalscoring reliability behind him.
If Nunez’s form is still indifferent by the time the final ball is kicked this season, then you fear he could be heading for the exit door and told to look for a new chapter.
The post 'He didn't add anything': Alan Shearer blasts Liverpool player who wasn't strong enough v Forest appeared first on HITC.
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