Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised Darwin Nunez for making some “massive steps” in his development as a player in recent weeks.

The Uruguayan international started the season on the bench, with the striker struggling to cope with what he was asked to do tactically, but Klopp says something has clicked, and he is now much more coordinated with the rest of his teammates:

“[He has made] massive steps in the last few weeks. He’s a threat. You all saw the goal [against West Ham], it was probably pretty good, right? That was really strong. He was always available for us. It’s super important that we have now kind of a ball player.”

“Chip the ball, get it on the chest, from there – like we scored the third [against] Wolves for example, I think it was a similar situation – it’s super important for us. And the defensive work he puts in now, that’s probably the main difference. He always wanted it, but he was less coordinated. Now it looks much better, we found a way that we can do it around him.”

Nunez has stepped up his game

There has never been any doubt about the 24-year-old’s ability to score goals and provide a threat in the final third of the pitch but Klopp has raised concerns about his footballing intelligence in the past.

After the 1-0 win against Fulham back in May, Klopp described Nunez as a “race horse”, and it wasn’t necessarily a compliment. The player is very willing to close down opponents but he wasn’t pressing in a coordinated way with the rest of his teammates, and that seems to have changed.

His adaptation at Liverpool has taken a long time

Many were hoping that Liverpool’s record signing would hit the ground running when he arrived last year, but things simply didn’t happen for Nunez.

He has needed time to settle in, and Klopp’s comments do suggest that the player is finally getting to grips with things.

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