Former Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam has called on his old Stoke City teammate Xherdan Shaqiri to step up to the plate for the Reds.
The Switzerland international has suffered from a lack of game time for Jurgen Klopp’s side this season, but Adam believes he can still make an impact at Anfield.
“I think it’s been in and out for him,” he told the Liverpool Echo. “He’s had a couple of injuries in pre-season as well. At a club like Liverpool you need top players in your squad and they’ve got that. When they’re not playing he can come in and play.
“He’ll play his fair share. He’s always got talent, he’s always had that talent. You just need to look at his CV, he’s a top player. Hopefully he can get a run of games at Liverpool but it’s always difficult at a club like that. He is good enough to create and score and hopefully he can contribute to Liverpool winning the title.”
OPINION
There’s no doubt that the start of this season has been a rough one for Shaqiri. He wasn’t exactly a regular for Liverpool last term, but over the first half of the last campaign he made a big impact whenever he played for the Reds. However, this time round he’s barely had a sniff. With that said, he really needs to do something to turn the situation around at Anfield. The statistics show that he is really struggling to make the grade on Merseyside. As per WhoScored.com, the 28-year-old has managed just 11 minutes of Premier League action this season, two substitute appearances. With that said, it’s no surprise that he’s down in every major offensive statistical category from what he produced last term. His average WhoScored rating per game has dropped down from 6.71 to 6.04, and he must be frustrated with the situation. As Adam says, though, Shaqiri has the talent to turn this situation around. It’s a long campaign and Liverpool are in several competitions, so he’ll get his chance at some point. He just has to make sure he takes it.
