Former Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo feels Xherdan Shaqiri got a taste of what could happen if he does not adhere to Jurgen Klopp’s demands at the weekend, while stressing his view that the step up from Stoke City is one he needs to cope with.
The 26-year-old made his first league start for Liverpool against Southampton at the weekend since joining the club in the summer and was keen to impress the manager.
However, Klopp replaced him at the break with James Milner as Liverpool romped to a 3-0 win over the Saints at Anfield and Matteo feels the winger got a taste of life under the Reds manager.
He believes the German showed with the Shaqiri substitution that he will not shy away from hooking off players if they are not playing according to the way he wants his side to play.
The former Red said on Radio City: “There’s a way he likes the players to play and if you don’t do it, he makes the change.
“I think he was just showing him, this is what we do and if you step out of line, you’ll be off.
“You have got to learn the Liverpool way.”
Matteo believes Shaqiri is still getting used to Liverpool and their training methods and will take time to settle down at his new club.
And he still believes the Swiss can turn out to be a good player for Liverpool as he has the ability to turn games on his own.
“It is early days for Shaqiri.
"He is trying to get up to speed with as well. He is coming from Stoke, maybe he was not training as hard.
“No disrespect to Stoke, at Liverpool he is playing with better players.
“We will get the best out of Shaqiri and you can see the signs that he can change a game and has got a lot of ability.”
