TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand says he can see similarities between Darwin Nunez and former Liverpool forward Luis Suarez.
Nunez managed to hit the woodwork 4 times against Chelsea on Wednesday evening and, despite not getting on the scoresheet, Ferdinand still believes that the forward will become a prolific goalscorer, like his fellow Uruguayan:
“Nunez today he did everything but score a goal. He will be a nightmare for centre-backs to play against.”
“He runs you into bad places, he is aggressive, he ricochets everything. A bit like Suarez used to do, in some ways. He is a handful who I think will end up getting goals.”
Suarez’s Liverpool career started in a similar fashion to Nunez’s
It is often forgotten that Suarez wasn’t the best finisher when he first arrived at Anfield. During his first full season with the Reds, he only scored 11 times in 31 appearances.
Much like Nunez, there was an element of bad luck involved as well. Against Norwich City in October 2011, he had 11 attempts on goal without scoring (the exact same figure that Nunez had versus Chelsea).
Composure is key to Nunez turning around his fortunes
One of the main reasons Nunez is not getting the goals he deserves is because he is snatching at his chances. The 24-year-old has a tendency to blast the ball, rather than placing his shots, which means he has less control over his accuracy.
This is something that can be worked on over a period of time on the training ground. With Suarez, the goals did begin to flow more easily within 18 months of his arrival. We are at the same point with Nunez now so fans will be hoping that the similarities between the pair continue.
