Liverpool star likened to Messi

Liverpool attacker Xherdan Shaqiri has been likened to Lionel Messi by his former coach.

Former Basel manager Thorsten Fink talked about his ex-player in glittering terms after the Swiss international scored his second goal for Liverpool. Fink added that Messi is a talented player who has to work little to impress, unlike Christiano Ronaldo who has to work hard to perform better. To Fink, Shaqiri and Messi share the same characteristics.

“He didn’t have to work for this talent. Ronaldo must work for this — work with this body, work with everything. For me, Messi has this talent. That’s also for Shaqiri.

“He has this talent to play. If he works very professionally, he can be the best player for Liverpool — not only a player. Every time the aim must to be better and make the next step. If you play for Liverpool not every week, it cannot be enough for him. His aim must be to play every week.” Fink told ESPN.

Shaqiri joined Liverpool from relegated Stoke City and has been an integral part of unbeaten Reds and his former trainer has said it was always great to work with.

“He’s smart and it was a pleasure to work with him. He played very well as a left-back. I thought he was the best left-back I saw after Roberto Carlos. But every time his aim was to play forward.

“He was very creative. He did things what you were not aware he could do. Sometimes he plays passes in deep, he shoots very well. He could cross very well, his ball control was very good. He had everything that you need for a perfect player. He was explosive.” Fink added.

Can he match Messi?

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