Liverpool star Darwin Nunez hits back at Southampton fans chanting ‘you’re just a s**t Andy Carroll’ with emphatic response during 2-1 win
Liverpool star Darwin Nunez hit back at the Southampton fans with a 'shush' celebration after scoring against the Saints in the Reds' 2-1 Carabao Cup win on Wednesday, December 18. In chants directed towards the Uruguay international, the Southampton fans sang, "You're just a sh*t Andy Carroll."
Nunez replied in style by scoring his side's first goal in the 24th minute. The former Benfica star saw one of his early shots in the game go over the bar, when the home fans at St Mary's took the opportunity to mock him. But their taunts were dealt with soon after.
Here's a video of Nunuez's celebration:
Nunez has scored just four goals and provided three assists for Liverpool this season in 21 matches. Reds boss Arne Slot had spoken about Nunez's recent form last week, saying during a press conference (via ESPN):
"For me he has impact. If you only look at goals, he hasn't scored the amount of goals he wants to score, or we want our No. 9 to score but he does have impact in his work rate. He's part of a team that is scoring a lot of goals and is winning a lot. But of course, as a No. 9 you want to score goals and that's definitely what he wants as well. I'm not only judging Mo [Salah] on his goals.
"I'm not only judging Darwin on his goals. I'm judging them on their work rate and what they bring to the team and that has been positive until now. Maybe also because the fans support him so much, maybe he wants it almost too much to score for himself and also for the fans because they've been very supportive of him."
Liverpool told to move on from Darwin Nunez by Jermaine Pennant
Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has urged the club to part ways with Darwin Nunez if he fails to deliver in the ongoing season. He believes the forward hasn't justified the €85 million the Reds paid for him in the summer of 2022, while showing no improvement.
He said (via LiverpoolECHO):
"He cost so much money and is up there with one of L'pool's highest-paid players. He’s just not giving L'pool what they paid for - yes, he works his socks off and the fans love him, bringing something different to the team, but ultimately you want goals. Especially for that price tag, you expect returns to justify that fee.
"I think after this season - which is his third - we’re not going to see any improvement in the fourth or fifth. This is it now, this is the final product of Darwin Nunez. No disrespect to him, but he’s not on the level as a player that are as a team. Liverpool has had some great No.9s in the past, and Nunez falls short of them."
Jermaine Pennant believes Alexander Isak would be the ideal replacement for Nunez in Arne Slot's squad.