Klopp says Darwin Nunez has 'made massive steps'

Darwin Nunez has made massive steps in his Liverpool career and his much-criticised defensive work is the reason for his growing chances in the Reds starting XI, says Jurgen Klopp.

The Uruguayan was critiqued in his first season on these shores by rival fans, with his manager saying that defensive dirty work was Nunez’s ‘ticket’ to the first team. The striker scored a goal to put Liverpool back ahead in a tricky match against West Ham on Sunday.

Mo Salah and Diogo Jota scored but it was Nunez who Klopp singled out for praise. ‘He has made massive steps in the last few weeks,’ said the German. ‘He is a threat. You all saw the goal, that was probably pretty good, right? That was really strong.

‘He was always available, it’s super important for us now that we have a ball player, chip the ball get it on the chest and play from there, that’s how we scored the third goal at Wolves, super important for us.

‘The defensive work he puts in is probably the main difference. He always wanted (to do it) but it was less co-ordinated. Now that looks much better.

‘We have found a way to do it around him, Curtis (Jones) and Dom (Szoboszlai) help a lot, how flexible they are in that way. It’s really good, absolutely.’

Klopp added that it was a difficult game but he was pleased by his side’s reaction. ‘As expected, it was a difficult game,’ he said. ‘Very good moments in the first half but we were not enough in control to deny them completely. We played well in different phases. Lost some balls we shouldn’t have.

‘When they scored I was not completely surprised. We could’ve defended it better. Most importantly we stayed in the game and gave them a proper challenge, caused some problems and scored a super goal. I can’t wait to see it properly back.

‘Third goal was a top set-piece which we all know how important they are. Everyone should know how good they (West Ham) are at them. Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) lost the first ball but then started playing, Dom similar. Joel Matip with a super performance against (Michail) Antonio.’

David Moyes said: ‘We had done a pretty good job in the first half. We created a few, we were always under pressure but there are lots of positives to take from the game. We had to gamble at 2-1 to find the second goal.

‘When you come here, I’ve been here so many times, I come away here too often saying the same thing. I’m a bit fed up with saying it. We had moments, Micky (Antonio) had a header, Tomas (Soucek) had a great save by the keeper.

‘Our start to the season has been really good. We have only had two home games and they have been Chelsea and Manchester City. It’s been a difficult start and we’ve done well, I take loads of encouragement from some of the things we’ve seen.’