Darwin Núñez on the periphery and looking out of place at Liverpool

I t was a bizarre moment during a bizarre game. In the 73rd minute of Liverpool’s 4-3 victory over Tottenham on Sunday, Darwin Núñez could be seen receiving instructions from Thiago Alcântara as he prepared to come on as a substitute, the Spanish midfielder taking it upon himself to play coach despite not even being part of Liverpool’s matchday squad. And as he did so Jürgen Klopp, the actual coach, looked on with a mix of confusion and contempt.

It would, of course, not be the last time Klopp got annoyed that afternoon and in this case he was perhaps right to be, given that whatever Thiago said to Núñez had no positive effect. The Uruguay forward entered the pitch and ran around with little poise or purpose, and was largely wonky and wasteful in possession. The erratic, ineffective nature of Núñez’s cameo was best summed up by his failed attempt to stop Richarlison from scoring Spurs’s third goal, a flying right-foot challenge that ended up closer to the Brazilian’s head than it did the ball, and all in all it was another display that added to the sense the 23-year-old is increasingly out of place at Anfield.

What’s for sure is this has been a trying season for Núñez after his £64m move from Benfica in June. The numbers are decent – 15 goals and four assists in 40 appearances – but he has not got close to living up to the hype that greeted his arrival and went up a notch or two after he scored on his debut, a late glancing header to seal Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Manchester City in July’s Community Shield. It was some impact but, two games later, Núñez was sent off for head-butting Joachim Andersen in a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace and has never truly recovered. As the campaign draws to a conclusion, he finds