"Low energy level" - Jurgen Klopp claims Liverpool star was happy to be substituted off during Wolverhampton win
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp recently revealed that Alexis Mac Allister was relieved to be substituted during their win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
The Reds secured a 3-1 victory over Gary O'Neil's men at the Molineux Stadium, thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo, Andrew Robertson, and an own goal from Hugo Bueno.
The Merseyside outfit were able to secure all three points despite going 1-0 down within the first seven minutes of the encounter.
Mac Allister was replaced by Luis Diaz at half-time. While many may have assumed the Argentine would have been disappointed to be substituted off the pitch, Klopp has revealed otherwise.
The World Cup winner was apparently happy to be taken off, given the hectic schedule he had playing for Argentina during the international break. The Liverpool boss said after the match (as quoted by 90min):
"The good thing about the first half was that it was that bad that I didn't think we could play the second half like that. Obviously we wanted to start completely differently, but for whatever reason it was not possible for the boys, you can see it."
"Low energy level, Macca [Mac Allister], some others as well, you could just see they struggled. We couldn't change five times at half-time, so we thought we'd change the system and one player, and give us a bit more speed up front, natural speed," he added.
"He had some good moments in the first half but he was not disappointed to come off, more relief," Klopp concluded.
Liverpool are currently third in the Premier League table after four wins and one draw in their first five league encounters this season.
"He has a massive influence" - Jurgen Klopp hails Liverpool star for performance against Wolves
Jurgen Klopp reserved special praise for Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. The German manager insisted that the Hungarian midfielder is an immensely influential player who can exert great control over a game.
Lauding him for his performance against Wolves, Klopp said after the match (via HITC):
“We have to say, he has a massive influence on our game already. He didn’t play well first half; he was there, he lost balls and stuff like this where you think, ‘Oh God.’ We lost so many balls."
“But he stays in the game, that’s probably the biggest strength – so it’s not a great game but he stays in the game. Second half we played Curtis and Dom on a double-six, which is a very offensive double-six but they did really well, they did really smart both of them. And so he turned it into a really good game," he added.
Liverpool signed Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig this summer as a part of a major midfield revamp for £60 million. The Hungary international has so far put on some impressive performances for the Reds, recording one goal in five Premier League appearances this season.
Apart from the 22-year-old midfielder, the Merseyside outfit also signed Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister, and Ryan Gravenberch this summer to bolster their midfield options.