The enigmatic Darwin Nunez has had a direct hand in two key victories for Liverpool over only a matter of days, but there’s no telling if he will be a hero or inactive in the next two.
It proved quite the testing week, despite the rest weekend offered by Liverpool’s non-involvement in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Events at the Parc des Princes and Anfield led to two more important victories for Arne Slot‘s men, both were ultimately influenced by the Liverpool manager’s footballing problem child.
A month or two ago, a WhatsApp message from Jeff Goulding popped up on my phone, asking if I would be able to sub-in for him for his scheduled involvement as the Reds’ talking head on that evening’s BBC Radio Merseyside Total Sport show.
I unwittingly must have sounded plausible enough in my opinions to be absorbed within some sort of rotation system, in which you’re invited back every few weeks.
It was my good fortune that the random generator of this rotation system landed on me again, 24 hours after Liverpool’s magnificently outrageous win in the French capital, where most of the red-hued chat revolved around the majestic Alisson‘s life-defining performance.
But it also touched on the situation Harvey Elliott currently finds himself in, and the contribution to what was a ram-raiding victory that Darwin Nunez made.
Darwin Nunez the enigma
It made for an interesting hour of conversation, but it was after walking out of the studio that the introspection became a little deeper when talking with that show’s Blue talking head, Max Carlyle, about the complexities of Nunez a bit more before we drifted our separate ways into the Liverpool night.
Max doesn’t tick the box of your stereotypical Blue. While he’s massively passionate and hugely insightful about the team of his heart, he is panoramic enough in his love of football that he openly admires the way Liverpool play, and is fascinated by the chemistry of Nunez and the polarising opinions the Uruguayan provokes among his Red-tinted friends – some of whom are still defiantly pro-Nunez, while others have increasingly lost their shit over him.
As we stood there chatting, Max asked questions I’d never even asked myself about Nunez, and where my own thoughts stand with him.
I mean, I’ve never been massively pro or anti-Nunez in individual terms but I’ve always held out hope that given time and patience, everything would fall into place for him as part of the collective, from where his individual relevance could come to the fore; this in itself not being a Nunez bespoke concept, and instead a rule of thumb that goes for all Liverpool players.
A symbiosis is always at play in this respect.
On Saturday, as Liverpool stood poised to get the game restarted after conceding the opening goal against Southampton, one of the visiting players stood semi-provocatively in the centre circle just inside the Liverpool half.
With the referee unwilling to resume proceedings, Nunez took it upon himself to shove him in the direction of his own half.
A red mist was clearly descending upon the Liverpool number nine and within a short few moments, a VAR check was taking place over a potential red card after a yellow had been flashed at Nunez for a needlessly rash challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters.
The half-time whistle made for a pleasing sound and it was going to take a brave decision by Slot to persevere with Nunez after the interval.
Inactive or a hero again?
Certainly, the smart money was on changes being made and when three players found themselves hooked at the interval, it was a reasonable surprise that Nunez hadn’t been one of them.
Stick or twist, Slot held his nerve where others would have erred upon caution and he was rewarded royally, as within 10 minutes of the restart Nunez netted the equaliser, and won the penalty from which Mohamed Salah had given Liverpool the lead.
Still a red card risk however, it felt a bit of a relief that Nunez was then withdrawn and replaced by Diogo Jota just beyond the midway point of the second half.
It was here where my chat with Max sprang back into mind, which mused the complexities of Nunez’s character, along with his place within the landscape of an attacking quintet that mostly have one question mark or another hovering over them.
Be it the Nunez conundrum, Salah’s contract situation, Jota’s fitness track record, or Luis Diaz‘s largely unacknowledged battle for balance between the skills he possesses and the end product that is sometimes lacking.
In Paris, Nunez was key to Elliott’s late winning goal, displaying the intelligent and grown-up streak which lays beneath the surface of chaos that we mostly get to see from him, this from the same player who ballooned that shot over the crossbar at Villa Park and indulged in a teenage social media strop.
Thus, it is hard to come to a definitive opinion on Nunez because there are multiple extreme personalities at play, which probably means his future will lay away from Anfield this summer, especially if an inflated offer drifts Liverpool’s way from Saudi Arabia, one from which the club can claw their outlay back.
It all makes for a kitchen sink drama of a distraction, but one that can’t be allowed to draw light from the destiny that is looming for the collective.
Victory over Southampton has brought Liverpool to within 18 points of the Premier League title, a win that, at least temporarily, put them 16 points clear at the top of the table and ever closer to a 20th league title that, at least jointly, will put us back where we belong.
Now we head into another biblical week with the return game against Paris Saint-Germain and a trip to Wembley for the League Cup final to come.
It is a week where Nunez could just as easily watch on from the sidelines in a totally inactive role as he could make a hero of himself.
Strap yourselves in.
