Darwin Nunez’s 39-minute cameo against Manchester City on Saturday in the 3-1 Community Shield triumph provided the first tantalizing look of the future for Jurgen Klopp’s frontline, showcasing his ability to both create and score goals. Liverpool’s exhilarating Community Shield triumph over Manchester City on Saturday served as an early marker for the next year.
The Reds won 3-1 thanks to goals from new acquisitions Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, and Trent Alexander-Arnold. With the victory, Jurgen Klopp’s team has now claimed every domestic trophy available to them during his time in charge. But during the 90 mins at the King Power Stadium, there were plenty of things that went unseen or unreported.
Liverpudlians have long cherished a world-class center-back, despite the praise lavished on the team’s legendary goal scorers and creators.
Darwin Nunez’s Return Could Bring A Much Needed Change For Liverpool
From ‘Colossus’ Ron Yeats, who helped Bill Shankly awaken Liverpool from its slumber in the early 1960s, to the magnificent eloquence of Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson in the 1980s, all the way up to modern defensive stalwart Virgil van Dijk, Anfield has been blessed with a wealth of talented defenders who have been able to create the space at the back for their attacking teammates to thrive.
Finding somebody with the skills and aptitude to fill such a job, however, is frequently a bit of a gamble, and over the years, there have been those who came with high aspirations of being the Reds’ next stalwart at the back but ended up falling far short of expectations. Darwin Nunez meets the standard.
Few have delved deeper than Neil Ruddock, whose talents caused the Reds to break the world record transfer for a defender to bring him to Anfield, but who ultimately became the poster boy for a maddeningly disheartening era, with the stories of his transgressions highlighting just how far standards had fallen in the 1990s as the club’s agonizing 30-year wait for a champions league took hold.
