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Owen Hargreaves says one Liverpool player ‘doesn’t want to play’ where Jurgen Klopp used him in midweek
Liverpool attacker Xherdan Shaqiri “doesn’t want to play” on the left side of attack, according to Optus Sport pundit Owen Hargreaves.
The Reds forward has struggled for game time throughout much of his time at Anfield but was handed his second consecutive start by Jurgen Klopp in Wednesday’s game with Brighton.
Shaqiri did well against West Ham at the weekend when deployed on the tip of the midfield diamond.
However, the £13million man struggled on the left, often losing possession cheaply, and he didn’t fare much better on the right, eventually being subbed off.
Liverpool lacked the pace required to break through the Brighton defence and it cost them dearly in the end as there was only one goal between the two.
“There is no pace in the Liverpool side. None,” Hargreaves said on .
“When Mane is not there, you see Shaqiri playing off the left hand side. He doesn’t want to play there. He wants to play as a No. 10. I think it is difficult.
“The pass and the run need to be perfect. The midfield (are) all really good players (but) there is no pace in there. Firmino is not quick, Shaqiri is not quick. Mo Salah is the only one who really wants to get in behind.
“Brighton, credit to them, they’ve played great but for Liverpool we think about how dominant City looked earlier, Liverpool, as good as they are, don’t really look like scoring which we haven’t said for a really long time.”
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It’s been one of those seasons for Liverpool, where pretty much everything that could’ve gone wrong has gone wrong.
Although the Reds have been battling bravely in pursuit of a second consecutive title, there have just been too many hurdles.
Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Fabinho, Alisson Becker and Joel Matip were all out on Wednesday, and quite a few of those have been out at various times or even long-term.
While Shaqiri has done well as a No. 10, he wasn’t able to adequately slot in on the left – but with Mane and Jota both out, Klopp didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted three up top.