Jurgen Klopp has praised Xherdan Shaqiri's performance against Southampton on Saturday though says he withdrew the summer signing in an effort to get more 'control' in the match.
The Switzerland international started for the first time in the comprehensive 3-0 victory over Saints, and had a hand in two of the side's three first-half goals.
His early cross ended up in the back of the net via Wesley Hoedt, and then a stunning free-kick on the stroke of half-time bounced off the crossbar and was tapped in by Mohamed Salah.
But while Klopp was hugely impressed with Shaqiri's attacking efforts in the match, he opted to bring on James Milner at half-time to provide more stability.
'I said to Shaq that I have never taken a player off at half-time after such an influential half but we wanted more control. He wasn't injured,' Klopp explained.
'It was a good performance. We did a lot of work on set-pieces so it's pleasing all three goals came from set-pieces.
'Shaq is a fantastic boy. The free-kick was outstanding. He tried everything and he is a good player to have. Great offensively, needs a little work defensively.'
He added: 'The result is really cool and the performance could have been better.
'The changes cost us as I changed the system. Shaqiri was influential and Joel Matip was too, but our organisation was a problem.
'You could see that with the communication on the pitch, but we changed back to a system we are used to.'
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