Gary Neville has told Sky Sports that Xherdan Shaqiri’s problem when he plays for Liverpool is simply that he doesn’t run enough.
Shaqiri was handed a rare start for Liverpool against West Ham United on Sunday evening, and the Swiss international actually claimed an assist in a 3-1 victory.
However, Neville doesn’t appear to feel that Shaqiri is an ideal fit for Liverpool’s system, as he isn’t as willing to break the lines as other Reds’ attackers.
“The problem is with Shaqiri is that he plays walking football in that number 10 role,” Neville said.
“It would be nice if he made a run through. I think he just jogged forward a bit there, but he’s got to do more.
“Off the ball I’m talking about, on the ball he’s got a little bit of quality, but he’s got to provide a bit of penetration.”
Shaqiri did show his quality on the ball as he set up Mohamed Salah to score Liverpool’s second goal during the contest.
The Swiss international played a first time pass with his left-foot, which was perfectly clipped into Salah’s pass.
Shaqiri may still not have done enough to have staked his claim to keep a place in Liverpool’s line-up on a regular basis, though.
The Reds did ease past West Ham in the end, but whether Shaqiri had enough of an impact on the game to keep the likes of Roberto Firmino out of the team does seem doubtful.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
