Jurgen Klopp was adamant today that he was not arguing with Xherdan Shaqiri after the midweek Chelsea defeat in the EFL Cup.
Following the game, Klopp was seen passionately instructing the Swiss playmaker, which was misinterpreted as a telling off by some.
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“German newspapers said I had an argument with Shaqiri on the pitch. I didn’t. It was only about that free-kick!” Klopp told the press conference today, before lauding the former Stoke star’s performances so far.
“Very good. Very, very good…
“When he came in, that was what I wanted from him, to be completely free and just play football.
“I didn’t want to fill him with information about the way he defends, I wanted him only to play football.”
We’re interested by this as you’d have thought there’d be rigorous defensive instructions and lots of help positionally, but Klopp clearly thinks Shaq is best to use his own creative licence.
In fairness, this is what happens with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, although both our superstars know when they need to help their fullbacks.
Shaqiri is likely to return to the bench for Saturday’s clash with Chelsea, but could feature midweek away to Napoli.