JURGEN KLOPP has revealed that his £55m star was relieved to come off the pitch after a tough first half against Wolves.
Liverpool struggled in the opening 45 minutes against Wolves after conceding just minutes into the game, but they were able to turn it around and wound up 3-1 winners.
And one of the catalysts for Liverpool’s change in fortunes was a half-time substitution that saw Alexis Mac Allister hooked for Luis Diaz.
The £55m summer arrival had found it difficult in the first half and picked up a yellow card just four minutes into the game.
But it would seem his below par performance was a result of his low energy levels with the 24-year-old taking part in both of Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers during the international break.
That included 85 minutes against Bolivia that saw him play at over 12,000 feet above sea level, leaving him forced to use an oxygen cannister to regulate his blood oxygen levels.
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And Klopp made it clear after the game that was one of the reasons he felt he needed to take Mac Allister off, revealing the former Brighton man was relieved to spend some time on the sidelines.
He said: “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.
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“He had some good moments in the first half but he was not disappointed to come off, more relief.”
Liverpool remain unbeaten in the league so far this season after they turned it on in the second half with Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo finding the back of the net whilst Hugo Bueno deflected the ball into his own net from a Harvey Elliot effort.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
