Van Dijk to Nuñez: “Don’t Get Dragged Into Positivity and Negativity”

Darwin Nuñez was a standout for Liverpool against Bournemouth in his first start of the 2024-25 season.

After starting the season on the bench with Diogo Jota favoured to lead the line for new head coach Arne Slot, striker Darwin Nuñez got his chance to start for the first time on Saturday against Bournemouth and impressed with a goal and strong performance.

While his highlight reel strike is what will get the fans talking, though, it’s the rest of his afternoon that had his manager and teammates including captain Virgil van Dijk talking after the game had ended as they looked to highlight Nuñez work off the ball.

“If you want to be successful in different competitions you need a very good squad,” Van Dijk said following Saturday’s 3-0 victory. “They have to perform and today Darwin scored a fantastic goal and the boys who came in produced and that’s what we need.

“Any striker on the bench or who has a lack of confidence works their socks off to be successful. He got a chance to be the starting striker today and he worked very hard for that goal and also he worked hard defensively when we didn’t have the ball.

“Those are the things we need from the whole team, whether you start or come in. Now it is time for him to stay calm and I think, in my opinion, he has been doing that much better and the manager is busy with him a lot and we just have to keep him close to us.”

Nuñez’ talent since joining Liverpool has been clear and undeniable, but finding consistent form has at times been highlighted by those outside the club as an issue, and despite the player’s confident appearance there have been suggestions that has impacted him.

Despite his strong performance on Saturday, he also isn’t a lock to start the next Premier League or Champions League game ahead of Jota—but Van Dijk is certain that if Nuñez keeps playing like he did against Bournemouth, his time will surely come.

“He started but he might not start the next game and we need him to be consistent and keep doing well when he comes on or when he starts,” Van Dijk added. “That’s the main thing, don’t get dragged into the positivity and then the low of the negativity.”

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com