After taking over for what was once the most formidable tandem in the Premier League, Darwin Nez and Mohamed Salah have struggled to gel.
If Liverpool wants to start winning again, Darwin Nez and Mohamed Salah must develop a close relationship.
There were more goals lost when Sadio Mané moved to Bayern Munich in the summer than his typical 20 goals per season. A strike partnership that was among the most intricate and successful in the Premier League was broken up.
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Mané and Mohamed Salah were a mainstay in Jürgen Klopp’s squad for the past five seasons. Since Salah’s signing up until the Africa Cup of Nations was moved to be played in the middle of the season earlier this year, at least one of them has appeared in each Premier League game.
They both traveled to Cameroon and represented their respective countries in the Afcon final. They had a competition for the Golden Boot as teammates, which is said to have spilled over during the memorable outburst at Turf Moor when Mané gesticulated angrily after Salah failed to pass to him. Regarding the alleged rivalry, Salah recently noted, “It’s not something personal,” in reference to Mané moving to Bayern in a deal costing £35 million plus add-ons.
Only Harry Kane and Son Heung-min have more Premier League assists over the same time span than the pair’s 22 combined, thanks to their creative rivalry. At Goodison, Liverpool needed it after going scoreless and adding to an inconsistent campaign start, which Klopp freely admits is not what he planned.
Darwin Nez has taken Mané’s position, and while the £64 million striker showed potential, he will need to work with Salah to help his club get back to the pacesetters at the top of the standings.
After serving a suspension for headbutting Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen, Nez was reinstated. He hit the crossbar and had other attempts saved or blocked. Thankfully for Klopp, there was no indication that his red mist would become a recurring motif as he maintained his composure during his first Merseyside derby.
Nunez (right) celebrates a goal at Craven Cottage with teammate Salah on the first day of the season.
The striker for Uruguay was indicating the locations where he wanted the ball to be passed. He was trapped behind Everton’s backline by his teammates, forcing Jordan Pickford to tip the ball onto the woodwork. Given Klopp’s new addition’s work rate and the fact that he occasionally found himself battling for possession in the left back position, there may be comparisons to Mané.
But for Liverpool’s season to get going, an agreement with Salah is required. They weren’t close enough to one another to often combine. As Nunez gets familiar with his new team’s practices, that will undoubtedly happen eventually. Salah was involved in a flurry of late Liverpool chances to snatch the victory after Nez was replaced.
By non-Salah standards, Salah’s two goals this season are adequate. The fact that he averages the same number of passes each game is significant, but his shooting percentage of 29% is lower than it was previous season (33%). Salah’s goal production, according to Klopp, is not the result of his lining up too wide this year.
It’s not more than previous seasons, according to Klopp. “What you see there, I’m not sure. Mo should be in that position, as we’ve always wanted him to be, but we also want him to be in the center of things more often.
They were fully free in between the lines while we were playing because Darwin kept the last line back with his pure presence when Mo dropped [deeper] or when Luis Daz fell after two or three passes. However, we didn’t do it enough. He isn’t wide too much during the season, but he might be a little bit later on in this game.
Since joining Bayern Munich, Sadio Mané has already scored five goals in six games.
Given that Né has replaced Mané in Klopp’s attacking lineup, he will have to put up with comparisons to Mané. Mané scored five goals in his first six games for Bayern, whereas Nunez’s debut has been hurt by his red card.
The start-stop integration was present in him, according to Klopp. We can’t train constantly because we are always playing. He was suspended after a week during which we only had two or three sessions that were somewhat typical; the remainder were individual workouts where he had to put in more effort.
“He looked pretty fantastic in the sessions when we had them, but he still needs to be integrated; that’s perfectly normal. I am certain that he will succeed in these circumstances in the future.
Meanwhile, Everton, who has yet to record a Premier League victory this year, found encouragement in their opponents’ draw.
Pickford stated, “I keep talking about the camaraderie and the personalities we have now in the team. It’s incredible. We had more bad luck, but we’re still very close. It’s a solid starting point to move forward and secure the victory in the next games.
“It’s the whole team’s first clean sheet of the [Premier League] season, not just mine. We’re all on the same team. I’m available if needed, but you’ve got people putting up obstacles and difficulties, and everyone is risking everything.
“It’s good for confidence to get a clean sheet at home to prepare for the forthcoming games before the international break.”