Jurgen Klopp is wrong – and it’s okay to say it
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is wrong with his policy of refusing to select the senior players for the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury.
Klopp has made his stand against the policy to play replays and now the competition will be worse off for it. The German has essentially gone on strike, and for Reds fans this may represent an uncomfortable clash of ideals.
Just like Carabao Cup hopes were dashed by his refusal to split his squad in half, our gaffer wants to send the kids out against Shrewsbury to make a point.
Fans want to see trophies lifted at the end of the campaign. This has already been a historic season, but it could have been more. That Villa side were there for the taking, this Shrews team definitely are. But Klopp has made it that much more difficult.
Players like Adam Lallana, Xherdan Shaqiri, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren and Adrian have been robbed of the chance to rack up more minutes. Some of them need it badly – as witnessed by Matip and Lovren’s extremely rusty performance on Sunday.
They will not get that in February.
This issue is not so black and white, however. On one hand is a stubborn refusal to toe the line and that means a likely loss in the replay, on the other is an admirable and brilliant quality to do what he thinks is best for his players’ welfare.
Senior players were promised a week’s holiday during the two week Premier League break, and they will get that no matter what. They will get a chance to sun themselves, rest tired and overused bodies and refresh the mind. Klopp will not let the FA Cup get in the way of that and we should love him for that.
We should also love him for calling the FA out for their hypocrisy. They asked teams not to schedule international friendlies during that time off, we presume because they were worried about player welfare. So then why do they feel the need for cup replays?
Next. Matip and Elliot rubbish but how did the rest of the team do? Read our player ratings here. dark
But we can admire the man for this and criticise him for choosing to refuse to put up even a few senior players for a competitive game that could really mean something at the end of the season and that’s okay.