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Former PL star slams Klopp for starting XI line-up fluffs vs Brighton

Speaking on talkSPORT via Twitter, former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor says Jurgen Klopp made a serious blunder by benching Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz vs Brighton.

Agbonlahor said after Liverpool’s 3-3 to Brighton and Hove Albion that the Klopp had erred in not starting Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz in the game against the Seagulls as both players made appearances off the bench, with the Colombian also providing an assist for Liverpool’s second goal of the afternoon. Nunez had come on in the 89th minute, with not much game time left on the clock.

Leandro Trossard scored an impressive hat-trick at Anfield, the first since Andrey Arshavin’s four-goal performance back in 2009 that a visiting player struck 3 or more goals past a Liverpool keeper at Anfield.

It is indeed somewhat presumptuous that someone like Agbonlahor is attempting to school Klopp on what a manager should do. Even if at all some fans might agree with what the pundit is saying, player fatigue is a serious issue each club has to face and mitigate. The former Villa striker had accusing said this of Klopp on his show.

“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.”

Fabio Carvalho was taken off at the halftime mark as he was playing out of position. Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz did not start the game as they are coming on fresh from international duty. Klopp would certainly not start players because Gabby wants him to.

Klopp had also showed cause why the said players would not start the game. Agbonlahor’s comments had clearly just come off as being completely ignorant of the situation prevailing at Anfield.

The talkSHOW pundit has been on the receiving end of some brusque comments from the Liverpool gaffer early on in the season and this could be Gabby’s way of retaliating tit-for-tat at the Liverpool gaffer, albeit in a manner that could be construed as being a tad vindictive. That being said, Klopp is also not making life easier for himself with some rather questionable decisions that he has made.

The new season has certainly been a challenging one for Liverpool and Klopp, but it is also not the first time Jurgen is facing a challenge during his time at the club.

If there is anyone who could turn all of this around and pull some much-needed rabbits out of a hat, it is the German.