Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam has slammed Xherdan Shaqiri following his switch to Premier League giants Liverpool.
Shaqiri, 26, enjoyed three productive seasons with the Potters, including netting eight league goals last term – the most of any Stoke player – but his exploits in the final third were not enough to keep to his side in top-flight football.
The Potters subsequently suffered relegation, and will now ply their trade in the Championship under new coach Gary Rowett, but Shaqiri will not be at the Bet365 Stadium to help guide the club back to Premier League status.
The Swiss international completed a £13.5m switch to Anfield last week, much to the disdain of Adam who has lambasted the winger’s attitude last season.
He told talkSPORT: “Was he one of them? Oh, definitely.
“When the chips are down you look at your big players, you want your big players to bring magic in one moment in the season, and at times we felt like the so-called big players in the squad never turned up for us and never performed.
“Yeah, everybody else could help, but for all the plaudits to so-called bigger players we getting from certain members of the management staff last season – they weren’t producing.”
Shaqiri famously condemned the quality of players around him last season, telling Schweizer Illustrierte: “The feeling that even a Ronaldinho could do little in this team is sobering. Here at Stoke I cannot exert too much influence, simply because there is a lack of quality around me.”
And given Shaqiri enjoyed his most prolific goalscoring seasons since his FC Basel days, Adam’s comments were possibly motivated by the irritation of losing a player in Shaqiri’s mould, as the club looks to bounce back to the Premier League on first attempt.
Stoke City turmoil
If Adam’s comments about Shaqiri were true, or whether they should be taken with a pinch of salt, there can be no denying that a number of high-profile player’s let the club down last season.
Ibrahim Afellay was notably banished by manager Paul Lambert, with Scot citing his disruptive attitude in training as the reason, while Saido Berahino was sent to train with the U-23s team for poor discipline and turning up late to training.
The £18m summer signing of Kevin Wimmer also proved unsuccessful and backfired as he was forced to train with the U-23s, and Paris Saint-Germain forward Jese Rodriguez cut short his loan spell on unpaid compassionate leave, having played only 13 matches last season.
The post Charlie Adam launches scathing attack on former Stoke City teammate Xherdan Shaqiri appeared first on Squawka News.
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