Wayne Rooney pinpoints what Liverpool is missing with Darwin Nunez transfer claim

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Liverpool has struggled for consistency this season and Wayne Rooney says Arne Slot's team lacks the required aggression and energy that it showed in his first campaign

Wayne Rooney works as a pundit on Amazon Prime Video during Liverpool vs PSG in the Champions League.(Image: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

Wayne Rooney says Liverpool lacks the required aggression and energy to match the levels that it reached last season under Arne Slot, which is holding the club back in a difficult campaign.

Mohamed Salah's physical levels have declined and Luis Diaz has been missed this season. In the case of the Colombian, he has been excellent for Bayern Munich and helped fire Vincent Kompany's men into the Champions League semi-finals earlier this week, scoring a great goal to knock out Trent Alexander-Arnold and Real Madrid.

"Diaz and even [Darwin] Nunez was a nuisance and he wasn’t great," Rooney said of the duo that Liverpool sold last summer on his BBC podcast.

"When you go to Anfield, you used to have it with Stevie [Gerrard], with Dirk Kuyt, they used to press you aggressively. I think that’s what Nunez and Diaz did. They’ve lost that a little bit."

Alexander Isak has not been fit for most of his first season at Anfield while Cody Gakpo has never been that physical. And Slot has spoken numerous times about injuries meaning some players — including Hugo Ekitike — being overplayed.

This weekend, Liverpool travels to Everton's new stadium for the first time — a game in which intensity is a must. But Slot has insisted that fatigue won't be a factor even after playing PSG on Tuesday.

Luis Diaz has been in fine form for Bayern this season(Image: Oscar J. Barroso/Getty Images)

"I don't think it can affect that because there are more than a few days in between and it did not even affect us; the Fulham game affected us by being as intense as we were against Paris Saint-Germain," Slot said on Friday.

"Of course, I have to factor the Anfield factor in because there might be people who think, 'Why didn't you play like this away from home?' Now that's a bit more complicated than people might think.

"The fans play a big part if you want to go as aggressive as we were and taking the risk as we did.

"We took the same risk in Paris but then they were five or six times in front of our goalkeeper and now we could keep them away from our goal in large parts of the game. So no, being tired has no influence on the game on Sunday."

Come the summer, Liverpool will need a fresh injection of speed and quality in the final third. A new winger should be on the agenda to upgrade and replace Salah.

There is also a case for bringing Rio Ngumoha into the starting XI against Everton this weekend. With Ekitike out and Isak still working his way back, Gakpo and Salah may also start in a front three.

Liverpool.com says: The pressing this season has not always been effective, but there are reasons to think that can change. A fully fit Isak can do it very well, and Florian Wirtz had a reputation for his off-the-ball work at Leverkusen.

Liverpool needs a full pre-season and some more luck with injuries to get back into its fitness groove. Do that, and the individual talent and quality of most of its players is unquestionable.