Gabby Agbonlahor says Jurgen Klopp made a mistake by benching Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz vs Brighton
Speaking on talkSPORT via Twitter, former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor said after Liverpool’s 3-3 to Brighton and Hove Albion that the Reds’ gaffer Jurgen Klopp was wrong in not starting Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz in the game against the Seagulls.
Both players made appearances off the bench, with the Colombian also providing an assist for Liverpool’s second goal of the afternoon. Nunez also came on in the 89th minute, with not long to go.
Leandro Trossard scored a hat-trick at Anfield. It was a first since Andrey Arshavin’s four-goal performance back in 2009 that a visiting player struck 3 or more goals behind a Liverpool keeper at Anfield.
Someone like Agbonlahor trying to school Klopp on what a manager should do. Even though a section of fans might agree with what the pundit is saying, player fatigue is an issue each club has to face. The former Villa striker said the following on his show.
“He’s [Klopp’s] making mistakes as a manager. Today, start Diaz, start Nunez. He started Carvalho, took him off at half time. You can’t make these mistakes in the Premier League. Brighton are a top side, they’ve shown that”
Fabio Carvalho was taken off at the halftime mark as he was playing out of position. Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz did not start the game as they are coming on fresh from international duty. Klopp would certainly not start players because Gabby wants him to.
Klopp had also explained why the said players would not start the game. Given the information in the public domain, Agbonlahor’s comments just come off as ignorant of the situation prevalent at Anfield.
He has been on the receiving end of some words from the Liverpool gaffer early on in the season and this could be Gabby’s way of hitting back at Jurgen. But then clearly, Klopp is not making life easier for himself with some rather questionable decisions.
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- Transfer News: Liverpool among Premier League sides scouting Chilean wonderkid Dario Osorio
- Micah Richards says Liverpool star Darwin Nunez is much better than what fans have seen
It has certainly not been an easy start to the campaign for Liverpool, but it is also not the first time Jurgen is facing a challenge during his time at the club. If there is one person who could turn all of this around, it is the German.
