Luis Suarez has told former Uruguay teammate and Liverpool successor Darwin Nunez to “always trust in yourself” after more criticism of his performances.
Nunez has come in for criticism of late, not only for a glaring miss in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa but also his work rate in that game and the 2-1 win over Wolves.
Arne Slot himself expressed his frustrations at the No. 9’s lack of application, saying “I can’t accept if a player doesn’t give everything.”
The message seemed to go through as Nunez was back to “the usual Darwin” – in Slot’s words – when he came off the bench in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Newcastle.
After that victory, the striker showed his commitment to the club with a post on Instagram captioned “YNWA,” to which Suarez responded.
“Scorer! Always trusting in yourself and those who count on you always…the others who don’t know you, just follow,” Suarez wrote.
“We already know how this is. Big hug, always positive!”
This is not the first time Suarez has publicly backed Nunez, having become something of a mentor for the 25-year-old during their time together with Uruguay.
“Off the field, we have a very good bond, I always follow him because Luis is an idol for me, and he also advises me a lot,” Nunez explained in May.
“For example, the time the headbutt thing happened [for red card against Crystal Palace in 2022], Luis was the first to write to me.
“‘You idiot, don’t do that, another idiot is talking to you and he’s done it a thousand times’, he told me. With Luis, we created a very nice bond.”
In an interview with De Futbol Se Habla Asi in October, Suarez recalled how Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa left Nunez in tears at half-time during a 2-0 win over Argentina in 2023 – which left the veteran striker furious.
“For me Darwin needs affection, to be supported and containment, not other things,” he explained.
“I ran into the coach in the hallway, and he told me: ‘We are not helping him with those things’. I was taken aback, and I told him that I had to support him.
“After the victory, Bielsa greeted me and said: ‘Do you know what happens if I don’t talk to him like that? You saw what he ran in the second half’.
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“And I told him my part was to contain him.”
Nunez is widely expected to leave Liverpool at the end of the season but Slot has maintained that the club-record signing still has a big part to play in the run-in.
Atletico Madrid were tenuously linked with a move for Nunez in the summer but have already denied interest, with his most likely transfer as it stands being to a side in Saudi Arabia.
