Liverpool attacker Xherdan Shaqiri has thrown heavy shade on former Red Charlie Adam after picking up some criticism from the midfielder.
According to the Evening Standard, Adam accused Shaqiri of being one of the architects of Stoke City’s relegation to the Championship last season – and now the Swiss international has hit back in a pretty big way.
The Powercube has picked up a casual reputation for a perceived lack of work rate, but one thing is for sure: Jurgen Klopp won’t allow any of that to happen under his watch.
“I know what he said was totally wrong because at that time I played there – especially when times were hard – I was there and I was scoring a lot of goals,” Shaqiri said with sass.
Shaqiri was substituted at half time during his Premier League debut against Southampton, but it wasn’t because of his poor performance – Klopp just wanted a tactical reshufle.
He got another chance to impress against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and has started to put those lack of effort rumours to bed.
Liverpool were able to pick up Shaqiri for a bargain basement fee after Stoke were condemned to the Championship, and the Swiss international will add vital squad depth to the team and could possibly cover for the injury Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as well.
In 87 league fixtures, the Powercube has scored 15 goals and has been credited with 15 assists as well. During 2017/2018 he hit the back of the net eight times and created seven others – which should go some way to getting rid of those Adam comments.
The ex Red midfielder has a reputation for being a bit of a hot-head, and this is something the Swiss national hit back on: “I was one of the only ones who helped the team with goals in difficult games and he was that guy who took the red card in league games (against Everton) and missed a penalty (against Brighton),” he added.
Ever since coming to the Premier League from Bayern Munich, Shaqiri has been a regular starter. It’ll be interesting to see how he copes with those reduced chances.