If Moreno and Clyne don’t get a gig they may as well give up
If Liverpool full-backs Nathaniel Clyne and Alberto Moreno don’t get a game against Chelsea in the Caraboa Cup they may as well give up on this season.
Reds’ manager Jurgen Klopp has been stingy with his rotations during the Premier League and the Champions League, but the first of the cup competitions is normally where those on the fringe of the squad get a chance. That has to happen on Wednesday night.
Clyne and Moreno would have once been considered first team options, but since the emergence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson the pair have been relegated to the substitutes bench and beyond.
It was probably only due to injury that the current incumbent were allowed to steal Moreno and Clyne’s place in the starting XI, but since then Robertson and Alexander-Arnold have fully deserved their non-stop inclusion.
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But after a heavy run of fixtures, in which both have played every time, now is surely the moment to rotate full-back options. Even though the game is against Chelsea, if Klopp doesn’t give Clyne and Moreno a chance now it’s tough to see when he would.
Plus, the first XI needs footballers who can step in against the big sides when required and starting those back-up players would give the manager a good look at where they are compared to the first choice lads.
But if they don’t play, that will send a signal that Klopp doesn’t think those two are ready – and Klopp never plays you if you’re not ready. It will mean Clyne or Moreno or both will need to go back to the drawing board and work a lot harder if they’re to crack the team. It may mean that they’ll never crack it.
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The positive to all this is that competition is healthy within the squad, and when a player is picked he knows he’s earned it.