McManaman criticised Darwin Nunez in first-half of Liverpool win

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Steve McManaman criticised Darwin Nunez on BT Sport (broadcast on 4/10; 20:11) after the Liverpool striker was reprimanded by the referee for preventing a Rangers free-kick from being taken in the 10th minute of their Champions League tie at Anfield.

Nunez was handed a big opportunity at Anfield. The 23-year-old was given only his third start since his move in the summer.

It has been a difficult start to life on Merseyside for the striker. He scored in the Community Shield and on his Premier League debut. However, he was sent off for a stupid clash against Crystal Palace. And he has not scored for the Reds since.

McManaman criticised Darwin Nunez

Thankfully for Liverpool, there was nothing like the incident with Joachim Andersen on Tuesday against Rangers. But he did get into a little trouble with the referee in the early stages.

Rangers were awarded a free-kick just after Trent Alexander-Arnold had given the Reds the lead. But they were denied the chance to take it quickly with Nunez standing in front of the ball.

The referee decided against producing a yellow card. But McManaman was still critical of the Uruguayan for doing something so needless.

“Nobody wants to see it. You do not have to do this. It’s nine minutes in, you’re 1-0 up, do not antagonise anyone. You don’t need to stand in front two, three, four times,” he told BT Sport.

The positive for Liverpool is that Nunez showed a lot more of the positive side of his game against the Gers. In fact, were it not for the performance of Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor, Nunez could have easily had a couple of goals before the break.

Nunez has work to do to silence his doubters. He arrived for a huge fee in the summer. And some neutrals seemingly love to see someone fail, particularly when they are at a big club such as Liverpool.

He is still learning and developing his game. But with that, he is also improving his mindset. Sometimes he will probably make silly mistakes. However, there is every reason to think that he will come good at some stage.