Nunez showed glimpses of 3 Liverpool legends vs Forest after Chelsea icon claim
Darwin Nunez can be all things to all people. A force of nature, a laughing stock, a 's*** Andy Carroll' as per the chants of the Nottingham Forest fans in the second half when a tame header dropped straight out, and - according to Joe Cole anyway - another Didier Drogba. Well, potentially.
The former Chelsea favourite, who was briefly a Liverpool player, made the comparison in midweek after Nunez's performance against Toulouse, a game when he scored one goal and unfathomably didn't add a second.
"I think it does [sum him up as a player] but I think that can be harsh on him because he’s got so much to his game," Cole told TNT Sports on Thursday night. "He gets an A* in every part of his game, and his performance tonight was also fantastic but his finishing is a C at the moment - but that’s something he can work on.
"It’s something that often comes later on in strikers, something that they work on later like Didier Drogba. When he arrived at Chelsea, he wasn’t as polished as when he became the legend he was so the Liverpool fans will be hoping Darwin Nunez can turn into that kind of striker, one who seizes those opportunities and gets better with age."
Nunez's strike here - Liverpool's second after he'd forced the opener for Diogo Jota - was his sixth for the campaign, and a fourth in five for club and country, which suggests that finishing grade could be on an upward curve, but instead of Drogba it was three Liverpool greats he appeared to emulate on a largely simple afternoon for the hosts.
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Nunez scored Liverpool's second of the game (PA)In the first half he looked a bit like Fernando Torres, that lean, goal hunter who used to occupy Liverpool's No.9 shirt and regularly find the back of the net at the Kop end. When the Reds finally got through the massed ranks of Forest's defence one Nunez shot from a Salah pass was thumped straight at the erratic Matt Turner.
The next time those two combined ended with Jota's goal, and then it was Dominik Szoboszlai who teed up Nunez for his sharp, Torres-like finish in front of the Kop as Liverpool took the game away from their dizzied hosts inside four minutes, pausing only to show that team-mate Luis Diaz was on their minds during his horrific 24 hours.
The forward had a superb afternoon (PA)Liverpool were in control now, as Forest's plan to try and keep the score down before a big late push floundered. The Reds, with Alexis Mac Allister impressing, were then able to take something of an experimental approach to the second period, and it was there that Nunez took on the form of two more Liverpool favourites.
First he was Roberto Firmino 2.0, taking up the central position in the three of what looked a 4-1-3-2 formation at times, with the Uruguayan showing a willingness to come deep and help knit together attacks, supporting Salah and Jota. The Portuguese would soon depart though, and Nunez moved over to the right flank to attempt a Salah impression, with the Egyptian himself stationed centrally. It was through the middle that he would run before rolling home Liverpool's comical third after Turner's rush of blood.
Nunez departed shortly afterwards, another job - which is several jobs - well done. He would later return to the pitch after full-time and give the Kop a friendly wave as they again chanted his name.
So is he the new Drogba? A 's*** Andy Carroll?' No he's just Darwin Nunez, and he is very entertaining to watch.
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