Xherdan Shaqiri: Liverpool forward hints at Anfield exit amid ‘disappointment’ over playing time
By Jackson Cole
17th August 2019, 10:49 am
Xherdan Shaqiri has fuelled speculation he could leave Liverpool after admitting he is unhappy with his lack of playing time at Anfield. The Switzerland international joined the Reds from Stoke City for £13million in the summer of 2018. He made 24 Premier League appearances last season, however, he only started in eleven of them.
The forward, 27, is something of a fringe player for the Anfield club and has yet to feature for them this season – with his only appearance coming in their Community Shield defeat to Manchester City. Although he picked up an injury while playing in the Nations League in June, Shaqiri’s fall down the pecking order at Liverpool over the past few months has been rapid. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started against Chelsea in the Super Cup while striker Divock Origi has also worked his way up following his Champions League form.There have even been suggestions Shaqiri could go this summer as the transfer window is still open in Europe’s other big leagues. And Shaqiri fired a warning to Reds boss Jurgen Klopp about his future, admitting that he needs to ‘look at the situation and find a solution’.
In an interview with Swiss publication BZ Langenthaler Tagblatt, Shaqiri said: “I am disappointed that I am no longer getting to play in matches. “No player is happy to sit on the bench. It is clear that I would like to have more playing time. I need to take a good look at the situation and find a solution.”
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I think he has a right to be concerned about his place in the team. Going back to last season, his last start in the league came on 30th of January against Leicester. He played exactly 0 minutes in Champions League after coming on as sub in the PSG away game – until the Barca home game, of course, when Klopp had no choice but to play him, assisted on the 3rd goal, but again didn't play even a minute in the final. This season, 3 competitive fixtures in, he hasn't got a single minute of action. There is a pattern and it's clear.
He's clearly a quality player, so why doesn't Klopp find ways to rotate him in more? We've talked in the past about his struggles to fit into our 4-3-3 system – but systems can be changed to accommodate players, but Klopp has been unwilling to do this for Shaqiri since January. I think Shaq's biggest problem honestly is Salah. Mo's mentality is similar to Messi or Ronaldo – if he is able to stand on two legs he wants to play and woe is to the manager who dares to "rest" him. He is also a physical freak who can actually handle this amount of workload and actually needs to play a lot to feel fully sharp. Sadio and Bobby are kind of the same, actually – and that's why it's so insanely difficult to find and maintain "quality backup" for out front 3.
Footballers in their prime want to play and had we paid £72M like Arsenal did for Pepe instead of £13M we paid for Shaq, it would create the same kind of unsolvable conflicts we see in Barcelona with the likes Coutinho and Dembele (and the excellent Malcolm who kept his mouth shut, but lost a year of his career sitting on the bench). Keeping young homegrown players as back-ups is not a perfect solution either – they need consistent minutes to develop, which is why Harry Wilson is now scoring for Bournemouth. The only realistic way, like I said before, is to have quality attacking midfielders who can play alongside the front 3 and can also step in to sub for any of them when necessary – and that's exactly Shaq's problem; he is behind Ox, Hendo, Keita, Gini, Milner and even Lallana in the midfield pecking order due to his defensive deficiencies – even though he is probably the sharpest passer and chance-creator among them. It's good for us to have a player of his quality on the bench – but I understand his frustration. If he doesn't leave before September 1st, surely it's going to be his last season in Liverpool.
