Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has advised Darwin Nunez not to get dragged into being affected by the highs and lows he experiences in the game.
The Uruguay international scored his first goal in 15 matches on his first start since April in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth and appeared tearful after his brilliant finish.
Nunez is hoping for a fresh start under new head coach Arne Slot after losing his place in the team in the final months of Jurgen Klopp’s reign at the end of last season.
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He deleted all Liverpool-related photographs from his social media accounts and admitted negative comments about his form had affected him.
The 25-year-old is an emotional character, it is a quality on which both he and fans feed off, but Van Dijk has urged him to try to take a more measured stance.
“For him, coming into a club like Liverpool with the price tag (a potential £85million club record) there is always going to be pressure to produce week in, week out and he is trying to do that but it is not always that easy,” said the Dutchman.
“Now it is time for him to stay calm and I think, in my opinion, he has been doing that much better and the manager is busy with him a lot and us as players and we just have to keep him close to us and keep going.
“He started (against Bournemouth) but he might not start the next game and we want him to be consistent and keep doing it and doing it when he comes on and when he starts.
“That’s the main thing: don’t get dragged into the positivity and then the low of the negativity or you will be dizzy at a certain point.
“Consistency is the key. I think he shouldn’t get carried away – but he won’t – and now is the time for him to recover and focus on the next opportunity he gets. That’s football.”
Slot has spoken about the need for Nunez to improve the defensive side of his game in order to be more of an asset to the side.
Van Dijk believes the South American is beginning to show glimpses of that.
“Any striker, on the bench or who has a lack of confidence, works their socks off to be successful,” he added.
“He got a chance to be the starting striker and he worked very hard for that goal but he worked hard defensively when we didn’t have the ball and those are the things that we need from the whole team.
“The fans love him for his work-rate, his directness and what he brings to the table and he got reward for the hard work he did with a good goal but we want him to be consistent and keep doing it and I am confident he will be fine.”
