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Jurgen Klopp has insisted that Liverpool are remaining 'calm' over Darwin Nunez's slow start to life at Anfield.
The Uruguayan became the Reds' club-record signing in the summer (€100 million including add-ons) following his exceptional season at Benfica. However, Nunez has scored just once in four Premier League appearances so far. He was only brought on in the 89th minute during Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday (October 1).
Nunez's most notable contribution at Merseyside so far was a bizarre red card against Crystal Palace when he inexplicably headbutted Joachim Andersen. That ruled the Uruguayan forward out for three matches and Klopp feels that time away hasn't helped his development so far.
Speaking at the press conference ahead of his team's Champions League clash with Rangers, the German boss was asked about Nunez, to which he replied (as per The Liverpool Echo):
"New players come in and want them to shine immediately and that happens from time to time. We are completely calm. It's really important in our situation that he isn't worrying. The three-game suspension didn't help him, that's clear. The team isn't flying and that doesn't help a striker."
Jurgen Klopp feels Liverpool need to improve defensively
The Reds have endured a slow start to the season in which they have kept just one clean sheet in ten games so far. The Merseysiders currently sit ninth in the Premier League table, with defenders such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk being criticized for basic errors.
Klopp was asked about where his defense needs to improve and the 55-year-old insisted that they need to be more compact. The German said:
"We have conceded similar goals with teams going through the same gaps. The problem we have is a brave way of defending. We need intensity and if we don't do that then it's a problem."
"We have to be more compact. Defending is an art, and it worked for us really well for a long time. But with it not working you realize you have to go back to the basics."
Klopp continued:
"Patience is not 100% the right word, but we have to be patient to do the right thing again and again until it works out. We can't always start new, completely new. If we can help the boys with a way to defend differently then we have to do that. We have to be more compact."
