Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Darwin Nunez was left "embarrassed" and low on confidence after being sent off in just his second Premier League game.
Nunez was shown a straight red card in the draw with Crystal Palace after headbutting Joachim Andersen. It was far from the start that the Portuguese striker wanted to have, given the Reds paid a club record fee to buy him from Benfica.
He has been able to bounce back since his suspension, scoring four goals in all competitions. But Klopp has now revealed that the red card took a toll on the 23-year-old, which badly hit his confidence.
“Darwin came here after a short break in the summer, arriving 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 Liverpool boss said.
"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.
“That's the start: trying to get fit step by step with new training - with new, different things in training - different demands and all these kind of things. Then you start pretty well against City, coming on and scoring an important goal.
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"The next game you score at Fulham and then you have a red card [against Crystal Palace]. He felt embarrassed for himself that he did that, definitely, like everybody would react like this. Then, from not being 100 per cent confident, getting a knock like this is not cool, which you can blame nobody else for because you did it and nobody else."
Despite that knock to his confidence, Klopp has insisted that Nunez has had a good start to his Liverpool career. And he encouraged the Portugal star to stay fit to ensure he can live up to his potential.
“For all these things, his numbers are incredible to be absolutely honest. If you speak about xGs, I am pretty sure his xGs are pretty high as well. He had a few chances which he missed, but he scored as well," he added.
"He is involved in a lot of finishing moments, a lot of things. The steps he's making are really big and that means automatically that he settles in more and more. He has to stay fit, he has to be available all the time and he wasn't against Nottingham Forest.
“That's all important in the life of a professional football player. We have to work on all in all different areas. Then, the potential is incredible. It's not only speed, the attitude is really good, he is a real worker.
“That he doesn’t bring it on the pitch all the time, the first touch might be here or there sometimes, is nothing to do with technique. It is just a bit too late, awareness, orientation and all these kind of things, but it is all possible to develop and to learn. That’s where we are at, it’s really exciting, but where it can go I have no idea.”
