Jurgen Klopp reveals the ‘mistake’ he made with Liverpool summer signing Xherdan Shaqiri
Liverpool signed Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke City in the summer (Picture: Getty)
Jurgen Klopp believes he has made a ‘mistake’ by not giving Xherdan Shaqiri more game-time following his summer move to Liverpool.
The Reds triggered Shaqiri’s £13.5million release clause in July to sign the Switzerland international from relegated Stoke City.
The 26-year-old has been restricted to three substitute appearances so far this season and is yet to start a game for Liverpool.
But Klopp admits it is his own ‘mistake’ that Shaqiri has not featured more prominently and says the summer signing’s ‘time will come’.
Liverpool will look to maintain their 100% start to the new Premier League season at home against Southampton on Saturday.
‘He is very positive, not only from the performances but as a guy in the dressing room,’ Klopp said.
‘Everyone loves Shaq, that is how it is – and without playing plenty of minutes.
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‘That is more my mistake than his. He has done everything to play. I made different decisions but his time will come, that is for sure.’
As well as winning their first five Premier League matches this season, Liverpool also beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 in the Champions League during the week.
And Klopp says Liverpool’s recent defensive performances were a ‘really big step’ for his team.
‘We don’t feel that [momentum] to be honest because we play, analyse, prepare; play, analyse, prepare and that is it,’ Klopp said of Shaqiri.
Shaqiri is yet to start a game for the Reds (Picture: Getty)
‘Maybe it’s because all the jobs are so difficult. There is no game where we have thought: “Thank God we have played them.”
‘None of the results we have this season would have been possible without the greed you have seen or without the aggression you see. No chance.’
Klopp, who will manage his 600th competitive game on Saturday, added: ‘We didn’t win anything so far – not in the past and not this season – so let’s use the momentum and create a new momentum.
‘We really want to be the ugliest team to play against. That is the plan, and to do it with good football players.
‘The best news I have had in the last two weeks is how we have changed or reinvented again our defensive skills.
‘We didn’t need them too much in the first few games. It was not that we didn’t have to defend but they were different games.
‘Against Tottenham and Paris I loved how we did it. We still played good football and that was a really big step in the season so far.’