Manchester United Football Club legend, Andy Cole has expressed his displeasure to being compared to Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.
Nunez was guilty of some wasteful finishing on a number of occasions against the reigning Premier League Champions as Liverpool fell to a 3-2 defeat and were subsequently dumped out of the Carabao Cup. The Uruguayan had three clear chances at goal all of which were shot off-target.
After the game, some suggested that while Nunez’s finishing was nothing to write about, the fact he is finding chances is a positive and is similar to the way Cole used to operate during his time at United.
Legendary Premier League striker Andy Cole has rubbished comparison to Darwin Nunez. The former Manchester United striker listed his personal and team achievements and asked to be respected.
However, having seen the comparisons on Tiwtter, Cole quickly hit back by writing: “Cole… Nunez… Not sure where this nonsense started. But it is Christmas, the festival season… I am happily retired. Five Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, one League Cup, one Champions League, golden boot, Young Player of the Year. “187 Premier League goals, one penalty. Life is what you make it.”
When one Twitter user explained to the former Old Trafford Star that the original tweet was actually in defence of Nunez rather than any sort of criticism towards Cole, the 51-year-old replied: “Sorry Dave worded wrongly or rightly… People need to stop disrespecting my name because I don’t play the game. “Just a quiet guy getting on with life and people think they can disrespect me. Look at the numbers and compare them to anyone else.”
Darwin Nunez wrote a heartbreaking message after Uruguay were eliminated in the group stages of this year’s Qatar World Cup. The Liverpool striker failed to score in Qatar 2022 as his country exited the Mundial in the group stage, in a group that included Portugal, Ghana and South Korea.
Nunez has been a subject of criticism for his game play since his big money move to Liverpool.
While Nunez has a long way to go before he can claim to have achieved anything close to Cole, the 23-year-old can’t be written off just yet and has already proven there is plenty of talent for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp to work with.
Given the amount of money the Reds parted ways with to bring Nunez to Anfield from Benfica (£64million before add-ons), pressure and scrutiny on Nunez each time a shot is missed was inevitable.
Nunez does not look like a player particularly fazed by this pressure, which is likely down to the huge faith his manager clearly has in him, with Klopp showing empathy to the former Benfica man’s situation back in October.
“Darwin came here after a short break in the summer, arriving [for pre-season] in Asia, didn’t speak a word [of English] and then being young, Liverpool is a big club, it is a big step for him and he was expensive and all these kind of things,” the Reds boss explained. “Then all of a sudden, you play the first game and everybody is looking at you. “It’s like the whole place is dark and there is only one light and it’s the spotlight on you. You have to deal with that – we all expect them to deal immediately with it, [to] be prepared, but it’s not like this.”
Manchester United legend Andy Cole was one of the best strikers to ever grace the Premier League. He played for several clubs in England but is best remembered for his time at Manchester United. He formed a devastating strike partnership with Dwight Yorke at Manchester United. The two won five trophies together including three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and the 1999 UEFA Champions League title.
