Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has explained why Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez are misfiring, with a key area in need of improvement being identified.
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Reds have seen title dream fadeStrikers squandering big chancesCoach has no serious concernsWHAT HAPPENED?
The Reds have seen their Premier League title dreams begin to fade, while also bowing out of the Europa League, with Klopp’s farewell tour – ahead of his summer departure from Anfield – in danger of finishing on a low note.
AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Salah and Nunez have had chances of late to keep the Liverpool fires burning, but both have surprisingly fluffed their lines on a regular basis. That was the case once again as the Reds drew a blank in a 2-0 Merseyside derby defeat to Everton.
WHAT KLOPP SAID
With Nunez without a goal in six and Salah finding the target just twice through his last seven appearances, Klopp has told reporters of why those struggles are being endured and how the tide could turn quickly: “It's tricky. Strikers have to go through these things. That's how it is. That's a striker's life. A goalkeeper's life is make 500 saves, then one howler – and everybody talks about this. A striker's life is you score all the time, then you don't score for a while and then everybody asks why you don't score. It can be the most difficult thing in the world and sometimes it's the easiest thing in the world, depending on what chance you get. We had good chances against Everton but again we were a bit in a rush in finishing them off. So create again, create again and try and get in the right positions to finish the situations off. It will be a really rich man or woman who can write that book [on a striker getting back to their best]. You have to go through it. I try to help them speeding it up. That says nothing about the quality of the boys.”
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?
Salah still has 24 efforts to his name this season, passing 200 total goals for Liverpool in the process, while enigmatic Uruguayan Nunez is only two away from reaching 20 across all competitions. They will both be hoping to get back into the groove when taking in a trip to West Ham on Saturday.