The Nunez thing has vexed everybody. And – to be clear – it will continue to do so.
But at the moment when you are begging, when you need something, anything, football miracles, then there he is. There he is.
There will almost certainly now not be a run of goals, but will there be another big goal or two? Will he make another telling contribution? Will he open the scoring against Real Madrid or something similar? Will he score late one more time? It’s hard to write him off.
Not because he is Divock. He is almost the polar opposite of Divock. Divock would almost ghost through games before dispassionately settling the affair. Nunez is instead constantly present, driving you mad or making you sad. Nunez makes you think of what might have been, what might be in another dimension. Divock made no false promises.
Divock loved his contribution but Nunez craves his. Divock enjoyed affection, but Nunez wants nothing more than to be a Liverpool hero. Craving isn’t always healthy whereas enjoying and loving tends to be.
Today, I craved. I am sure you did too. The aftermath of Nottingham Forest left this day with craving at the top of the agenda. We could not see that lead diminish further, we simply had to find our way to the points.
As the game wore on, wanting gave way to needing and then needing gave way to craving. Craving being this mental desperation, because the gnawing just won’t stop. I understand why so many supporters have found this week hard. Because the gnawing just won’t stop. Craving folds and tugs and ultimately kills. Craving is the heat going out of you and you chasing it down, fruitlessly. Craving is the abyss and there was the abyss all of a sudden.
And then there he is.
