Klopp says ‘it’s a crime’ 27-year-old Liverpool star doesn’t play more often – only had 176 minutes of PL football this term | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp has claimed that ‘its a crime’ Taki Minamino hasn’t earnt more regular minutes during his time with Liverpool, whilst paying credit to the depth on offer in his side’s squad.

The Merseysiders secured a potentially season-defining three points against Southampton courtesy of the Japanese international’s first-half equaliser and Joel Matip’s second-half intervention.

“It’s a crime Minamino doesn’t play more. Harvey didn’t play for a long time. Curtis didn’t play much. They deliver,” the German told reporters (via BBC Sport).

“It’s unbelievable. Making nine changes and this performance is exceptional.

“We would have had much more problems today if we’d played the guys who played 120 minutes on Saturday.”

The result sees the visitors move to within a point of Manchester City to take the league title showdown to the last game of the league season with the Cityzens taking on ex-Reds skipper Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa outfit.

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It goes without saying that our backup options this term have been nothing short of superb, with our No.18, in particular, having played a vital role in our domestic cup charge.

Our head coach spoke previously about his guilt at leaving out Minamino (who has only enjoyed 176 minutes of Premier League action) from cup finals when the forward had contributed directly to our double appearance at Wembley against Chelsea.

With the likes of Mo Salah and Co. ahead of him, of course, one can more than understand Klopp’s decision-making when it comes to team selection.

Still, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the fires of our quadruple hopes have very much been fanned by the efforts of our squad as a whole.

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