Charlie Adam Throws Shade On Shaqiri Liverpool Move

The former Liverpool man isn’t exactly magnanimous about his Stoke City teammate’s move to Anfield.

Oh, Charlie Adam, you had your chance. The Scottish international played with Liverpool for Kenny Dalglish’s full season of his second stint with the club. Adam arrived in the summer of 2011 along with current captain Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing to a significant amount of fanfare. His £10m corners, you guys!

Soon after, with the arrival of new manager Brendan Rodgers, Adam found himself surplus to requirements and sent off to Stoke City, where he’s apparently been salty ever since.

Now his teammate Xherdan Shaqiri, always a bit of a square peg in a round Stoke City hole, and undoubtedly the best thing about their otherwise abysmal team last season, has made the £13m jump to Anfield. Meanwhile Adam finds himself playing in the Championship, the former Liverpool man has a few things to say on the subject.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, Adam criticized top scorer Shaqiri’s commitment to Stoke last season, saying, “He’s a big player, at times he did well for us. But in critical situations, I felt tracking back and what we needed for the team in a relegation battle just wasn’t there.

”He has got it in him, but he probably knew we were going to get relegated, he was going to the World Cup and had this big move - this move was probably done three, four months ago.

”He is a match-winner, but at times it was difficult to play in the same team. The manager would let him get away with certain things. We fell short, it’s not just him, there are others.”

It was a pretty bold statement about the player who was involved in 15 out of Stoke’s 35 total goals scored last season. It’s also a strangely adversarial tone for one professional to take about another, especially a former teammate, in public. That’s why one can’t help but feel like this is some sour grapes on the part of Adam in the wake of Shaqiri’s move.

Regarding the Swiss international’s future at Liverpool, Adam said, “He’s got to try and replace Salah, the best player in the Premier League and has a chance for the Ballon d’Or. It’s only going to last six months and he won’t be happy sitting on bench. He’ll want to play in the bigger games.

”He might get frustrated at not playing as much as he wants - it’s how long he waits and what Klopp does with him. He will fit in at Liverpool, he’s a top player. He deserves to be there.”

This should be good news to Liverpool fans, who will be happy to see another player fighting for one of Klopp’s coveted starting positions. Shaqiri’s Liverpool career has already started well, with an assist and a sweet bicycle kick goal against Manchester United, of all teams, in the ICC. Hopefully he continues his good form, and playing under Klopp and with high quality players will elevate him to even higher heights this season.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com