Jurgen Klopp is remaining calm over the fluctuating fortunes of Darwin Nunez – and has drawn a comparison between the Liverpool striker and the early misfire of Robert Lewandowski at Borussia Dortmund. His overall tally has already matched the number Lewandowski managed in his first season playing for Klopp at Dortmund before going on to become one of the game’s most prolific strikers, later netting 344 goals in 375 games at Bayern Munich and already notching 18 in 19 for Barcelona this season. And Klopp has spotted echoes with Nunez of the problems Lewandowski initially faced.
Jurgen Klopp said: “Going back to that time, I was sitting in a press conference and when I started playing Lewandowski the journalists asked me why (Lucas) Barrios was not playing. Lucas Barrios had scored 16 goals that season and was the number nine in our team. So Lewi started playing in different positions to adapt to different things, didn’t like it too much. The Polish journalists were not too friendly with me because he didn’t play number 10, he played in a 4-2-3-1 at 10. I thought at that time it made absolute sense to develop his game. So all different things. There are a lot of similarities (with Nunez) to be honest. Lewi would tell the same story, we had shooting sessions where he didn’t finish off one. We had bets all the time for €10 – ‘if you score more than 10 times I will pay you €10, if you don’t you have to pay me’. My pocket was full of money.”
Nunez is expected to make a fifth successive Premier League start by leading the line for the visit of Leicester City on Friday evening. And Klopp has urged the forward to shut out any external noise and remain focused on realising his potential.
Jurgen Klopp said: “It’s all about staying calm. When you see the potential, stay calm. It’s so difficult in a world we are living in, because of you (journalists) asking and making a big fuss of everything, then the supporters, social media and all these kind of things. The more you can shut off that, the better it is. I think we all agree that the potential is so obvious, yes. Is everything right? No. I think it’s clear when you see the second chance (against Aston Villa), the big chance in the second half he can run a little bit on an angle and then he has a free choice, all these kind of things. But it is all coming. You do it like this, the next time you do it like that. I had this situation with Lewi but it is not only Lewi. He is the obvious comparison, I understand. It’s not only with him. It’s just about staying calm and I am super calm. The team is calm as well, the team is completely convinced and that’s really cool. Let’s hope we all, him included, stay healthy and then everything will be fine.”
