Michail Antonio says he couldn’t stop laughing at a video of Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez ‘missing a push’ on social media.
Nunez has inexplicably become something of a figure of fun for rival fans since his arrival at Anfield last summer. Missing some presentable opportunities on the pitch, he has faced sustained ridicule off it.
It’s hard to say exactly why Darwin has been singled out so ferociously in this way. But speaking on the Footballers Football Podcast, West Ham United’s Antonio admits he was tickled by some of the things he saw about the Uruguayan.
“When we played him away some of the strikes he was doing were like ‘ohhh’. Left foot, right foot, always hitting the target and making our keeper pull off some unbelievable saves,” he admitted. “But it’s stuff I’m seeing on Instagram and social media where he just getting destroyed!
“I swear there was one stage where everyone was pushing each other and I saw this meme and he’s come in to push and missed the push! I swear, it was like ‘he’s even missed the push,’ I couldn’t believe it, I was dying mate.
“But I was like I swear this guy has got 14 goals this season!”
Antonio old enough to know better
To be honest, this is poor from Antonio. This highlights a little bit the issue of having two active footballers hosting a very public podcast.
Along with Newcastle’s Callum Wilson, the 32-year-old often give interesting and insightful takes on the goings on in the world of football. But there has to be some topics which are off limits.
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Openly ridiculing a much younger player coming to a new league should be one such topic. Laugh in private, that’s fine, we’ve all seen the videos going round on social media. To bring that into a public space is irresponsible, though.
Nunez is clearly struggling for confidence right now. Although there is some praise in there from Antonio, it doesn’t counter the lapping up of the ridicule. It’s perhaps unlikely that this will get back to the Liverpool striker. You never know though, and to hear two of his peers revelling in his struggles won’t do him any good at all.
Of course, it isn’t on Antonio to molly-coddle Nunez back to form, that’s true. But it’s hardly a good look to be laughing at a young player in a new league either.
For one reason or another, Darwin does seem to have attracted this kind of commentary. Yes, he’s been a little underwhelming since his big-money move last summer, but you can see the potential in him. Fingers crossed he kicks on and wipes the smirks off everyone’s faces in the very near future. Resiliencia, Darwin, keep going!
Source: rousingthekop.com
