When Sergio Aguero announced his tear-stained departure from Manchester City in the summer of 2021, Pep Guardiola appeared on the verge of breaking down when insisting that it would be ‘impossible’ for even a club of their resources to ‘replace’ a striker of his talents.
Of course, a certain Scandinavian sensation would arrive at the Etihad Stadium 12 months later, Erling Haaland doing what Aguero never could by lifting the Champions League trophy in that sky blue shirt.
When discussing truly irreplaceable forwards, you maybe need to a look a few miles down the road in the North West for a better example. Roberto Firmino might not have been as prolific as Aguero but, in terms of what he brought to Liverpool, finding a footballer of the Brazilian’s oh-so unique skillset really was ‘impossible’.
Gary Neville, with around half an hour on the clock during Liverpool’s Merseyside derby defeat at Everton on Wednesday night, could not shake the memory of Firmino from his mind as the man who inherited his number nine shirt miscontrolled a pass his predecessor would have brought down and laid off without breaking sweat.
Darwin Nunez criticised as Liverpool lose at Everton
“That’s a really good ball into him inside the box,” Neville sighed, a much-maligned Darwin Nunez letting the pass slip out of his grasp as the similarly out-of-sorts Mo Salah waited patiently for a lay off that would never arrive (Sky Sports).
“When is he going to polish his game, Darwin Nunez? I can just imagine Firmino, a few years ago, popping that back into Salah.
“(Nunez) has got to get that right.”
Of course, Nunez would commit a far more heinous crime just a few moments later. Firmino was not the most relentless of goalscorers, but the 2019 Champions League winner could certainly finish if a chance presented itself.
Nunez, opting for a driver when a putter would have sufficed, slammed a shot straight at a grateful Jordan Pickford when he had around 75 per cent of the net wide open and available, leading Neville to wonder whether the £64 million signing from Benfica would ever ascend to the heights of his Anfield predecessors.
“He’s got to score. He’s got the whole of the side of the net to go into honestly it’s just been blasted straight at him,” Neville said. “He has to go across Pickford and Pickford has no chance . He just smashes it at the goalkeeper.
“The gap in the other side of the goal is unbelievable.”
Nunez, in the last few weeks alone, appears to have cost Liverpool dear, their title challenge faltering at the worst-possible moment. Glorious opportunities in that 2-2 draw with Manchester United and that 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace were also squandered, Nunez scoring only once in his last nine games as he falls behind Chris Wood and level with Jean-Philippe Mateta in the Premier League charts.
Carragher slams ‘unforgivable’ miss
“The chance that Nunez misses before half-time, that is unforgivable at this level,” blasted the exasperated Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher. “That is not acceptable at this level, certainly when Liverpool are going for the title.”
“You want him to do well because there is so much that you like because he gives everything. He runs and causes trouble, and gets the odd goal and gets an assist.
“But, after two years when Liverpool this season are going to the title and those big games, you need your man to score away at Old Trafford, away at Goodison, in the European game at Atalanta. There is no time to waste. This is not October or November. This is the business end
“In terms of Nunez and where the club go forward now, we have all been in squads where someone comes in and maybe you talk about the first year and maybe say, ‘okay he’s getting up to speed with and he’s improving’,” Carragher adds. “But it has ground to a halt.
“You are looking at it now and, after two years, I don’t think there is going to be a massive improvement in him. What we have seen in the last two years is what he is. I don’t think it is going to be enough to win you the biggest trophies.
“So I think there is a big decision to be made on him in the summer.”