Gabby Agbonlahor has claimed that Jurgen Klopp made a big mistake by not starting Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez today.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, the pundit laid into the Liverpool manager for his team selection against Brighton.
“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,” said Agbonlahor.
“Liverpool now are 11 points behind Arsenal. 11 points! His defenders don’t want to defend, Van Dijk didn’t want to defend today, he’s stuck in fist gear. Teams are targeting that right-hand side with Trent and it’s hard to watch Liverpool defend. Matip as well today was poor, and they’ve got problems Liverpool.”
Klopp learns the importance of Luis
There were certainly a few eyebrows raised when the team news filtered through this afternoon.
With a full complement of attackers available, it was especially surprising to see Fabio Carvalho get a start on the right-hand side.
The 19-year-old is a special prospect. He’s played well for Liverpool so far and is deserving of a decent sized role in the team. He also had a rest over the international break, something Nunez, Diaz and Diogo Jota did not.
Nevertheless, this was a big game for Liverpool. It was a chance to restart their campaign after a really tricky beginning. As a result, Klopp perhaps should have gone full strength against a talented Brighton team.
As good as Carvalho is, or has the potential be, he isn’t currently in Liverpool’s strongest side. Diaz certainly is.
The decision to start Roberto Firmino over Nunez wasn’t a bad one, though. Liverpool’s No.9 dragged his team back into the game with a well-taken double and is now firmly ahead of Nunez in the pecking order.
But some criticism could be levelled at Klopp in the sense that the Uruguayan didn’t get on until the 89th minute. With Liverpool searching for a winner, the decision to bring on Nunez felt like too little too late.
It begs the question as to whether the Liverpool manager trusts his new big-money signing. With the starting XI failing to get the points, it will be interesting to see if Nunez is given more time in Tuesday’s game against Rangers. As for Diaz, he has to start, simple as that.
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