What Jurgen Klopp called Darwin Nunez after Liverpool’s victory over Fulham

What Jurgen Klopp called Darwin Nunez after Liverpool’s victory over Fulham

Liverpool have spoken out about Darwin Nunez after the forward returned to formation for the win over Fulham

Jurgen Klopp praised Darwin Nunez after returning to the Liverpool starting eleven for a 1-0 win over Fulham on Wednesday night.

The Uruguayan, who scored 15 goals in his first season at Anfield, had started just once in the Reds’ last seven games since the international break in March. Meanwhile, he hadn’t started in his preferred centre-forward position since the 3-0 defeat by Wolves in early February.

During his absence from the starting eleven, Liverpool had gone six games unbeaten, winning their last four games. But the 23-year-old made a decisive impression when he started at center back against Fulham and won the penalty to give the Reds a hard fought victory. Klopp has criticized Nunez in recent weeks, suggesting his struggles with England and Liverpool’s defensive demands have contributed to his spell on the bench. But the Liverpool manager was pleased with the striker’s effort against the Cottagers.

“Absolutely (we saw what we wanted). It’s super important,” Klopp told reporters after the final whistle. “At the beginning it’s very important to defend the center against Fulham because Palhinha is there. He is their link and gets the ball.

“So we were a bit ahead of Darwin. We tried to work it out, but he wanted to. He was a racehorse, he went for everyone.

“We opened up and struggled a bit because they were able to control it for moments. But we could arrange it.

“Apart from that, he played a really good match. He’s always been a good option for us. We needed him.

“One of the most important things we had to do tonight was make an offer. We had three very fast players there. He played a good game.”

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Meanwhile, Klopp offered an injury update on Diogo Jota, who was reluctant to face Fulham, explaining how the coaching team came to decide which front three to start, while Luis Diaz kept his place with the match winner Mohamed Salah. the offensive triumvirate.

“They (the top three) did well,” he said. “We mustn’t forget that with Luis you can see that after 30 minutes you can see that it’s really difficult for him. It’s difficult for everyone, we play a lot of matches. “We had a discussion, the coaches. “Who shall we rest? Is that Cody?’ Because Diogo couldn’t train anymore. I think the first situation where he is on the pitch, again, he gets hit in the back.

“I hope he’s better now because he has a real, real bruise on his ribs. It’s really painful. “Should he start? cody? How do we do that?” That was the result, that composition.

“It worked very well for a long time. Darwin was like a racehorse. Really driven, really fiery. It’s important to us.

“When Diogo and Cody came in, they were really involved in the defensive work. And then we had some sensational chances when the last pass didn’t work and everything was almost perfect. We could have done better there, but that’s okay. I like what I’ve seen.