Klopp reveals why Shaqiri was benched
LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp explains why he left Xherdan Shaqiri out of his lineup against Cardiff City.
The Reds ran out 4-1 winners at Anfield as they swept Cardiff aside with goals from Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and the Swiss international, who came off the bench in the second period.
Shaqiri has enjoyed a strong start to his career on Merseyside.
And a host of Liverpool supporters expected the winger to start from the outset against Cardiff this afternoon.
But Klopp has revealed he is still not sure how long it takes Shaqiri to recover in between games.
“Very good. We don’t know Shaq long enough how he recovers but I thought the lineup today was a good one,” he said.
“It was also good for Adam (Lallana) to start – he was involved in a lot of things. Bringing on that quality makes the difference. You need 13 or 14 players to win a match.”
Shaqiri speaking after the clash: “I was very pleased to score, I was waiting a few games for this. I am proud to score my first goal here in front of the fans and hope I can keep doing this.
“The manager told me to go and enjoy the game, to help the team, to play my game. I try to do my best all the time, so today was good for me.”
Shaqiri believes Liverpool’s victory against the Bluebirds is necessary to maintain their Premier League title challenge this season.
“We are a top team, to be successful we have to win these games. They are tough, not always nice to play. It is the beginning of the season, so we have to keep going like this, if we do we are going to have a successful year,” he added. – Daily Star LIVERPOOL moved top of the Premier League yesterday but their “creative mood” almost cost them, manager Jurgen Klopp said after lowly Cardiff City briefly threatened a comeback before the Reds ran out 4-1 winners at Anfield.
Liverpool were 2-0 up and cruising, but Callum Paterson pulled a goal back and Cardiff momentarily looked like getting a second before Klopp’s side regained their composure and finished comfortable winners.
And despite the impressive margin of victory, Klopp said his side have to “sort” their concentration levels after missing out on a 10th successive home Premier League clean sheet.
“It is a dampener,” Klopp told the BBC.
“If somebody would have told me 4-1 before the game I would have taken it, even without the clean sheet, but staying on the highest concentration level is a challenge for us. We have to sort it.
“Yes, conceding the goal was not nice, but it woke us up. Ninety minutes in the creative mood costs you. The boys don’t like it, I don’t like it, but the goal helped because at 2-1 Cardiff started believing and we used the space for nice goals.”
Klopp has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal – particularly in attack – with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and substitute Xherdan Shaqiri all finding the net in what were impressive performances.
“Having a good footballer helps,” Klopp said of Shaqiri who impressed with an effervescent cameo off the bench.
“Four games in a row he has played with us and his country so (it was) clear he would not start today. Bringing him on is a good thing to do. He had a good impact.
“We have a good squad. If they stay fit we have a lot of players who can play.
“In my whole life I wanted to be top for 24 hours,” he joked ahead of rivals Manchester City’s fixture at Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow.
“Not too decisive but 26 points is good.”
While Liverpool are top and 10 points better off than at the same stage of last season, Cardiff have endured a difficult return to the top flight, picking up just five points from their opening 10 matches.
“Anfield is an intimidating place,” manager Neil Warnock said.
“Our fans were fantastic. They know we are up against it. The lads gave everything.
“It was so quiet when Paterson scored, you had to dream of a comeback. We’re limited but improving, and the fans are with us.” – Reuters