Liverpool U23 v Shrewsbury Town
So it’s plucky little Shrewsbury up next. I must admit I wouldn’t begrudge them a win and another payday. It’s obvious we’re not that bothered about the competition.
It’s fair enough that Liverpool and Klopp are prioritising the Premier League and Champions league over the domestic Cups. All the top clubs do the same and use the Carabao and FA cups to blood some youngsters and give the fringe players some game time too. To give Pep some credit here though he does seem to go out to try to win every competition he enters. I just get the feeling with Klopp that he doesn’t really care at all about the cups I don’t mind that though because Pep’s team is in a different place to a Liverpool side rightly prioritising the winning of the League for the first time in 30 years.
The problem is that there are many competing interests from FIFA, UEFA, the FA and then the elite clubs and the smaller clubs. They all want their cut of the ever increasing revenues and to protect what they already have. If it was left just to the bigger clubs we would soon have a Super Euro League and the smaller clubs would be cast aside so someone has to look after them and protect their cup revenues that can be a life saver for them. The rules of the competition were known earlier in the season and it was recognised early on that the replays might interfere with the already planned break and the clubs all signed up to that programme
This little hissy fit Klopp has had and the decision to only field an U23 side smacks of hypocrisy. I know he has always said there is too much football expected of players and he is right but is he really thinking about the players welfare as he claims? He was quite happy to overwork his side when he first started at Liverpool, he still sometimes appears to bring players back from injury too soon and he is quite happy to drag them halfway round the World for pre-season money making tours and World Club Cup competitions. He could have made a gesture and played some of the fringe players and those returning from injury to give them some much needed game time. He might well be the Messiah but sometimes he can also be very naughty boy. Personally, I think Jurgen rashly promised Frau Klopp a holiday and has wisely decided that he’d rather upset the FA than her……
The taming of the Shrew(sbury) is one thing but an angry Frau is something else….
Team: I am not that familiar with the U23s but the team might look something like this: Kelleher, Williams, Hoever, Van den Berg, Lewis, 23, Clarkson, Jones, Chirivella, Elliott, Millar, Hardy.
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