Salah left in a year? With 15 goals on 110 shots, can Liverpool trust Núñez?
Against Newcastle, 10-man Liverpool came on as a substitute for Nunez in the 77th minute, and it took him 15 minutes to score two goals to help the team win away 2-1 away from home, taking a very solid step in this season's race for four.
Although Salah will not leave the team in the summer window, Liverpool's personnel operation in the transfer market seems to be paving the way for his departure. Perhaps a year from now, Núñez will be the new dominant player in Liverpool's forward rhythm.
01. Summer window will not let Salah go: his tactical value at Liverpool is still great
a. Liverpool's right-wing attack is the "lifeline"
Over the years, Liverpool's right-wing attack has been the lifeline of the team. Not only because Salah has a strong ability to carry the ball and play with his back, but also has a relatively stable passing and scoring efficiency.
On the other hand, the team's right-back Alexander-Arnold is the most threatening attacking starting point. In this way, as a player in the right midfield, you must balance the ability to make up and running, and have a good sprint speed to balance the shortcomings of Salah and Alexander-Arnold.
Salah is very good at picking up the ball before and after the center circle during the offensive and defensive transitions, or in the early stages of attacking initiation.
Because he handled the ball with his back, Arnold was able to put it on the back. Then the job of the right midfielder is to catch, connect and transition.
This time, if it weren't for Jota's stop-and-shoot error, he could even have taken Alexander-Arnold's wonderful pass and shot straight on goal.
At the same time, the new Sobosroy also won the favor of countless Liverpool fans because he had a good pass (the accuracy is not particularly high, and the sense of scoring and imagination on both sides is good).
According to last season's Premier League statistics, the first place to break through the opposing defense with a pass is Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, and the second place is Liverpool right-back Alexander-Arnold.
Salah's characteristic, in tandem with Alexander-Arnold in attack. At the same time, Salah himself does not particularly like to walk and run widely, Alexander-Arnold's relatively long ball path and passing habit of directly attacking on the spot also allow Salah to save the need for reverse insertion and further logical self-consistency (only the problem of retreat needs to be made up by right midfielders and right central defenders).
b. Signings are honest: Liverpool are preparing for Salah's departure
From the perspective of signings, Liverpool's purchase of Sobosroy and McAllister, as well as the soon-to-be Gravenbech, are the types with strong ball handling ability, can control the ball and launch attacks independently.
In this regard, Liverpool are not looking for a sapper for the Salah-Alexander-Arnold combination, but more like preparing for Salah to leave and attack with the ball in midfield. Fortunately, Sobosloy's sprinting ability is very strong, and he can also play as a right midfielder in attack (defensive filling is actually unqualified).
Klopp is still a very emotional coach, but Liverpool's goals for building and signing over the past few years have been clear, and the team's replacement plan is more decisive.
It can be seen that Salah may not leave the summer window, but he should go to the Sand Professional Union in a year.
02. The value of Núñez: It needs to be reflected when the whole team is speeding up
A. What Núñez caught was a quick word
Núñez's technical characteristic is to grab a quick word, especially when the two sides are deadlocked, and hit a fatal blow that instantly enters the box.
He has had successful stories against Manchester City and Real Madrid, and this trait is embodied. In the Premier League last season, the first person to receive a pass that broke through the defense was Núñez.
Equalizing Newcastle's first goal, Salah's retreating pass was still very showcasing the Egyptian star's strengths and characteristics.
He is very consistent with the ball this time, which is why Liverpool are reluctant to let him go. But Salah's return to the position to pass the ball meant there had to be arrows up front, and Nunez was a good fit for the job, and when Botman made a mistake, Nunez jumped at the chance.
However, at that time, it was also because of Liverpool's 10-man fight, and the three fought hard with their lives. If it is a regular formation, Salah's defensive commitment is not high and the depth of defense is insufficient, if Núñez directly rushes forward, it is not in line with Klopp's defensive habits, coupled with Van Dijk's increasing defects, it is difficult to support the system at the back.
In the final 15 minutes of playing Newcastle, Klopp's idea was to bet on Nunez. This time, Elliott in the back directly found a long pass to the front, although he could not find Nunez, but after the counter-steal in the middle circle, Salah's direct plug was still given to him.
Almost replicating the first goal, Núñez's advantage in the central defence of Newcastle was huge. His shots are always so crisp and his power is excellent. Last season, such a high-quality sudden speed into the box with a lot of shots, some of which were just a fraction of the difference, this one finally scored twice.
B. Núñez as a shooter: Confidence matters
From the statistics of the top five European league scorers in the spring, it can be seen that Nunez has a shot/goal conversion rate of only 10.53%, even lower than Havertz and ranked 185th.
He is not unable to run and create threats in the Premier League, but because of the problem of shooting efficiency, he has put himself in a trough.
One of the problems with Núñez is that he is not very thin under his feet when switching between attack and defense. If the play is more complicated, he will have some mistakes and problems.
This time Núñez could dribble but did not throw off the returning Enzo Fernandez. Finally, he forced a shot, but was also blocked by the opponent.
On the other hand, as a striker arrow, Nunez cannot always play a high-quality counter-attack at high speed. This time Elliott's long pass, Nunez stopped the ball badly, and the ball was broken.
This is actually the most common case for Arrowhead forwards, who can't be so good every time. The problem is that Nunez has missed a lot of opportunities before, so the psychological pressure will accumulate more and more, but it will be a vicious circle.
Nunez is up front and the best thing is to shoot straight at a non-pause. When he wants to hold the ball, it often doesn't work well.
But to shoot directly, you need to be confident enough and stretch. Once there is hesitation, on the contrary, it is not relied on at both ends. Playing Chelsea in the first round of the league, Nunez missed this good opportunity after coming off the bench, and there was a lot of criticism.
03. Núñez isn't just a pie front: his key passes are good
a. With 15 goals on 110 shots, Núñez's pass was not bad
After scoring twice against Newcastle, Núñez has scored 15 goals in 110 shots in the Premier League and Champions League since last season, or 7.33 shots on goal. If you just talk about the Premier League, it's 88 shots and 11 goals.
In addition to shooting, Núñez's key passes are also one of his strengths. As a speed-type striker, his technique is not very detailed, and ball control is not an advantage, but the speed of dribbling and the quality of passing and making the ball back are still very good.
The biggest difference between Nunez and Firmino is that he is used to making himself a counter-attacking arrow and an attacking finisher, and Firmino prefers to be a false nine.
When counter-attacking opportunities arise, Núñez's return pass after entering the box to get the ball must also be fast-paced and require teammates to follow up at high speed, which is not a frequency that Salah likes and can do at the moment.
So this time Núñez did the ball and found Jota, who is also good at moving widely, Salah is unmarked at the back post, and he likes to stand like this.
If the ball comes over in a scuffle, or if Roberto Firmino's ribs hold the ball to attract the defender and give Robertson a diversion to the back point, it will be Salah's chance.
Obviously, that's not how Núñez plays, so he went into the box at high speed and quickly returned it, but Jota tried to shoot but couldn't play well.
After the Portuguese returned from injury, his shooting power also slipped.
The key problem is that Nunez is not good at controlling the ball in place and slowing down the pace when he is in front, and he needs to continue to accelerate and make full use of the large space in depth.
If his teammates don't follow him up in time, Nunez's technique seems a bit inadequate. Salah is the absolute workhorse, and Nunez is not easy to enter the first start, and there is also a reason for this.
b. Before gaining tempo dominance: Nunez can only take advantage of opportunities as much as possible
Because Liverpool are struggling to play the attacking pace that Núñez likes at the moment, his value under this system cannot be maximized.
What can be done is to seize the opportunity as much as possible. The two goals in the last game helped him regain his confidence, and I hope to continue this shooting feeling.
Liverpool's squad that has won the Premier League and Champions League has gone five, leaving Salah alone.
Because of his high commercial value, he had great influence in the Arab world. Fenway may not easily give up on him until he finds his next business sign. But if Salah's shot drops further, it may not be far from his day at the Saudi League.
Conclusion:
Fenway and Jurgen Klopp are managers who are willing to break and rebuild later, and in this regard, Salah will not stay in the team for long.
However, this season, because there is no Champions League play, the fluctuation that can be tolerated commercially is not large, and it is also necessary to ensure that it returns to the top four of the Premier League and wins the Champions League next season. If all goes well, the farewell to Salah should happen a year later.