Arne Slot insists the goals will come for Darwin Nunez when he plays – but said the striker first needs to understand his tactical demands to get a spot in the side.
Nunez is on a 14-game goal drought for Liverpool and is yet to start a match under new manager Slot, with all four of his appearances this season coming as a substitute while the Dutchman is waiting to see if the £85m signing can do “special things” for his team.
Slot has preferred to use Diogo Jota in the centre of his attack and appreciates the Portugal international’s ability to drop deeper and join in the build-up play.
He said: “I think Diogo is a bit more a striker that can also go into the midfield and play as a false nine or a nine and a half, where Darwin is more the target man, that finishes off a good attack.
“He is in competition with Diogo who has done really well. But many games have to be played and there will be enough time to judge Darwin, if he improves and how he improves and if he can do special things for the club.”
Slot is trying to teach Nunez his style of play and where he needs to be when Liverpool are in and out of possession.
He explained: “I think it comes to what do you have to do when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball, and fit his own characteristics into that. We did work with him on his qualities to get the best out of him. But there’s also a general thing he has to understand, like all the others.
“Our staff is working a lot with videos, with individuals and that is about team orientation, where to position himself when we have the ball, when we don’t have the ball. So this is what we show them a lot, and then how he can bring the best out of his own qualities compared to the other players we have.”
The Mexico international Santiago Gimenez proved prolific for Slot at Feyenoord, scoring 23 and 26 goals in two seasons but the Dutchman noted the striker had a barren spell during his debut campaign in the Netherlands and said it took him a while to get used to his brand of football.
He added: “Santiago is a nice example of him scoring a lot of goals, but if you look back at the amount of minutes he had in the first half of the season when I arrived, it wasn’t that much. It took him some to adjust to the intense playing style of what we want from him, and then at a certain moment his goals came.”
Slot is confident his attackers are guaranteed goals, saying: “If you look back at my whole period at Feyenoord, the forwards all scored their goals. That’s what saw a few days ago with Cody [Gakpo], it doesn’t matter that much who is playing, it’s about the team that creates the chances and these individuals will always score goals.”