Arne Slot expressed his surprise at Darwin Nunez’s fitness levels after the Uruguayan completed a full 90 minutes in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
It has been a mixed start to the season for the Reds’ No. 9, who has primarily played a supporting role to Diogo Jota under Slot.
Following Jota’s injury during last week’s match against Chelsea, Nunez was brought off the bench and subsequently retained his spot in the starting lineup for both RB Leipzig and Arsenal.
The striker scored the winning goal midweek and assisted Mohamed Salah for Liverpool’s equalizer at the Emirates Stadium.
However, it was Nunez’s energy levels that impressed Arne Slot the most on Sunday afternoon.
“(His fitness) is also the reason I kept him on because if you keep on going you need to be fit enough to be competing,” the Reds boss said.
“That is what almost surprised me because Darwin hasn’t played that much yet so to play three games in a row with the difficult fixtures we’ve had, away in Europe, to see how hard he worked is really pleasing.
“He had to play deep the first half but that had not so much to do with the game plan but with the quality of Arsenal in the first half because they dominated us without creating that many chances.”
Arne Slot also praised defender Ibrahima Konate for his impressive performance against the Gunners.
“That I cannot tell you because I wasn’t here last season,” the 46-year-old said.
“The only thing I know is that these players from the moment that I stepped in put a lot of effort in themselves to stay fit.
“I said it many times, our performance staff and medical staff is one of the best in the world – which is normal if you are in Liverpool because it’s one of the best clubs in the world, they should have a very good performance and medical staff, and that’s also what we have.
“But the main thing is that the players buy into it, because they have to do the work and they have to recover, they have to go into ice baths and all these things we are asking from them to be prepared in the best possible way.
That’s what, until this moment, Ibou has done.
“The programme that we offered him has maybe helped him a bit as well, but in the end it’s always about the players.
“They have to do the effort to stay available.
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