Manchester United legend Andy Cole has not taken kindly to comparisons linking him with struggling Liverpool star Darwin Nunez after the Reds striker's poor performance against Manchester City on Thursday.
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 a hat-trick of efforts that were all dragged wide of the post, failing to even get his strikes on target.
After the game, some suggested that while Nunez's finishing leaves a lot to be desired, the fact he is finding chances is a positive and is similar to the way Cole used to operate for the Red Devils.
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.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Are the Nunez comparisons disrespectful to Cole and his career? Comment below
"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."
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 phased 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."
