\t\t\t\t\t\u201cHe will ultimately be a striker who didn\u2019t do the business for Liverpool (except for when he did) and who will be a subjective taste. I loved him and am fine with those who didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019M IN A<\/strong> WhatsApp group with Kris Walsh. We were chatting apropos of nothing the other day and post Paris came up. How early the season started and how nobody was really ready. Milburn mentioned being in Glastonbury and being panicked and I remembered nearly having a panic attack at the farm twice, once on the Thursday trying to see Paranoid London and once on the Saturday trying to get into the Pyramid I think to see Haim.<\/p>\n Anyway, Kris said:<\/p>\n \u201cI still maintain I didn\u2019t enjoy football again properly until Nu\u00f1ez at Newcastle.\u201d<\/p>\n The funny interpretation of Darwin Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s Liverpool career is when we wanted him, he didn\u2019t produce. When we needed him, he didn\u2019t produce. But when we really, really, really fucking needed the prick, when you were about claw your own eyes out, when you couldn\u2019t fucking take it anymore, he produced the goods. When all that remained was the bleak ground the other side of need, 10,000 miles away from want, then, there, that moment was Darwin Nu\u00f1ez.<\/p>\n Newcastle. Snarling and crowing and fucking growling. We\u2019d been so fucking sad and we were so fucking back. When he makes it 1-2 it genuinely could be the most \u201cfuck off\u201d I\u2019ve been in my whole life. The most I\u2019d ever ground my jaw.<\/p>\n We\u2019d been so fucking sad. We were so fucking back.<\/p>\n Part of why we needed to be back is that it hadn\u2019t worked. He hadn\u2019t worked. He hadn\u2019t produced. In a way this was harsh. Newcastle away in 2023 the first time that calendar year had seen him be unplayable. He\u2019d made so much sense, just as he had at Tottenham, at Aston Villa. But football can\u2019t be about constantly pulling it back from the brink unexpectedly. It has to mostly be about just doing the decent thing. Playing 7.5\/10. Scoring the goal you should score at a decent hour so everyone can relax.<\/p>\n That bit beyond needing. When J\u00fcrgen\u2019s Reds should have freewheeled their way to the title he should have scored the key goal against Nottingham Forest; one of the greatest goals in Liverpool\u2019s run-in history. But then he should also have scored the key goal against Manchester United in April. Maybe it came too early, was too sane, was too generic. Too much time left.<\/p>\n In the season just gone I maintain he scored the goals that created a 4 point swing; if he doesn\u2019t bag his brace at Brentford then Villa don\u2019t get a point at Arsenal. Arsenal certainly don\u2019t get booed off at Arsenal. He also opens the scoring against Aston Villa when we kick off at 8pm and Manchester City have been beaten by Brighton in the half five.<\/p>\n In both these instances don\u2019t let anyone tell you games moving for television isn\u2019t a good thing.<\/p>\n He scores the equaliser against Southampton and then wins the penalty when I want everyone who plays for Liverpool up against the wall at Anfield against Southampton. Liverpool champions.<\/p>\n He will ultimately be a striker who didn\u2019t do the business for Liverpool (except for when he did) and who will be a subjective taste. I loved him and am fine with those who didn\u2019t. He speaks to the part of me which wants to wear a bandana in the sunshine and hang off the edge of a cliff. Which in fact wants to hang around Kris and John\u2019s neck and as the sunset comes to meet the evening on the hill, tell them I\u2019ll always love them, I always did, I always will.<\/p>\n He conjures whiskey in my mouth and blood pumping around my body. He isn\u2019t the same as Divock Origi. Origi\u2019s moments were always \u201cfucking yes\u201d whereas Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s are \u201cfucking fuck off\u201d.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time to go. It hasn\u2019t worked. But in a way I wouldn\u2019t change a thing.<\/p>\n We\u2019d been so fucking sad. We really, really, really needed not to be anymore.<\/p>\n