Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has criticised Liverpool's Xherdan Shaqiri following reports of a row over the Switzerland captaincy which emerged last month.
Schmeichel claimed the No.23 has "behaved like a child" amid claims he Shaqiri felt disgruntled after Vladimir Petkovic awarded Arsenal's Granit Xhaka the international armband.
Shaqiri missed Switzerland's Euro 2020 qualifiers which took place in October in order to continue training at Melwood and fight for a Reds first team spot.
The Gunners midfielder touched on the subject following a 1-1 draw with Ireland, Xhaka said: "If the captain’s band really is the problem, then we can sit together at one table.
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"We are grown up enough to talk about it. If he really has a problem about that [the captaincy], then he may like the captain’s armband. That’s no problem for me. It does not matter to me if I have it.
"I want to give everything to the team, whether that’s with the band or without."
Switzerland are set to face Denmark this Saturday in a Group D qualifier and speaking ahead of the clash, Schmeichel told Swiss publication Blick: "I liked the words of Granit Xhaka in the context of Shaqiri's absence.
"I read that the captain question played a role in Shaqiri's thinking. Although this has been denied in the meantime, nevertheless I found it strong that Xhaka said: 'If Shaqiri wants to have the captain's armband, he should take it.'
"Xhaka showed that he wants to be a leader even without ties - and gave the pressure to Shaqiri. That was brilliant of him. In contrast to Shaqiri, who behaved like a child."
The Danish icon went on to praise the Liverpool forward, admitting: "He is a very good player, can dribble, shoot, has fast feet.
"You can never say exactly what he does next, which makes it very difficult for the opponent. But he made a strange transfer to Stoke.
"He was brilliant at Basel, went to Bayern - great. But then Stoke. Now he is with Jurgen Klopp, he likes such players. But he is not one of the 11 important ones."
Shaqiri will miss out on both of Switzerland's Euro 2020 qualifiers after sustaining an injury last month.
