Liverpool have begun the 2023/24 season well, and remain just a point behind Premier League leaders, Arsenal, as we approach the halfway point of the league season.
With so many transfers, particularly in midfield, during the summer window, and coming off the back of a poor 2022/23, the Reds’ resurgence, whilst welcomed, is still something of a surprise.
It’s to Jurgen Klopp and his backroom staff’s great credit that the Anfield-based outfit are up there and challenging again.
Assistant manager, Pep Ljinders, deserves as much credit for the work that he does behind the scenes, and the Dutchman has recently leapt to the defence of Darwin Nunez who is going through a tough time in front of goal at present.
The €75m/£64m (ESPN) ace hasn’t scored in his last 10 games in all competitions, per WhoScored, and has only found the net four times in Liverpool’s 17 Premier League games.
“Darwin is full of desire, you see that in each game,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
“And if we would only judge players on the goals, that would be so unfair.
“I feel that there is a good connection between Mo (Salah) and Darwin, for example – the way they see each other, they assist each other. And I feel above everything, Darwin is playing a much better season than last year.”
The rush to judge players at every opportunity these days is certainly becoming an unhealthy one and arguably plays into their own confidence issues if, as in Nunez’s case, they’re unable to find the back of the net as often as they’d like.
Perhaps Ljinders’ calm and meaningful dialogue will have the Liverpool faithful reassessing their ‘support’ of their players.