Why Jurgen Klopp must stick with the kids for Liverpool’s FA Cup replay – whatever the risks

Jurgen Klopp accepts that if he makes changes to his side and Liverpool fail to win the general perception will be that his team selection was wrong.

“I have absolutely no problem with criticism or something like that,” he said on Monday. “But it is absolutely not because of underestimating an opponent or something. Not one per cent. If somebody sees it like this, I cannot change it, so I won’t waste time to try to explain why we did it. It is how it is and it’s my job, I have to make decisions.

“The question I asked this morning in the dressing room when we had a little analysis meeting was ‘could we have done better?’ 100 per cent, yes, and that’s with that line-up,” he added.

Leaving aside the glaring likelihood that a stronger startling line-up would have enhanced Liverpool's chances of victory, there are times when managers have to run the risk of a setback in one game in order to protect both short and long term chances of success and this was one of them.

Not only did some of Liverpool's most promising young players gain valuable experience of a competitive game in front of a capacity Anfield crowd and several squad players get minutes under their belts, the rest that was afforded to other first team members could prove invaluable as Klopp continues to pursue a title assault and attempts to win the EFL Cup.

[caption id="attachment_106592" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Trent Alexander-Arnold (L) and Kevin Stewart of Liverpool (C) attempt to tackle Arnold Garita of Plymouth Argyle (R) (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)[/caption]  

Outside of the glory itself, there is little for Liverpool to gain from winning the FA Cup this season as they are almost certain to qualify for Europe through their league placing.

The Premier League, though, is a different matter entirely with Liverpool well placed to qualify for the Champions League for only the second time since 2010 and second favourites behind Chelsea to actually win the title.

Now that they are in the race, that has to be their priority with the EFL Cup secondary by virtue of them being just a two legged semi-final away from Wembley. At this stage of the competition, the FA Cup has to be treated as as third in Liverpool's priorities even if that does upset traditionalists and those who believe managers should play their strongest team in every game that they possibly can.

They can think like that but Klopp cannot afford to and when Liverpool face Plymouth in next week's replay he should trust the team that failed to beat them at Anfield, even if that does increase the risk of an ignominious exit.

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We all need to work out what we want from football

One of the few things of note that happened during a largely forgettable 3^rd round weekend that included Liverpool's dire 0-0 with Plymouth was that the BBC and BT Sport were once again taken to task for the games they chose to broadcast live.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Presenter Dan Walker and pundits Phil Neville and Trevor Sinclair get ready to host an FA Cup match on the BBC. (Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images)[/caption]  

The basic argument is that their choices were unimaginative and failed to reflect “the magic of the cup” with the latter being a particularly complex allegation given the magic of the cup now seems as anachronistic a concept as fixtures being screened on black and white television and supporters paying on the gate in pounds, shilling and pence before going to stand on a terrace.

Granted, Liverpool v Plymouth Argyle turned out not to be an inspired choice, although it would have done had the League Two outfit made more of a late break with the score goalless, and West Ham United v Manchester City turned out to be the kind of one-sided romp that meant no-one, other than the most ardent City supporters and most masochistic West Ham fan, needed to watch the second half.

Manchester United's 4-0 win over Reading was, as anticipated, another uneven contest. Preston North End versus Arsenal was at least competitive and carried sufficient tension to maintain even neutrals' interest, while Tottenham Hotspur against Aston Villa also failed to fire the imagination.

As was the case for the competition itself, this was another bad weekend for those who broadcast it but it should be said that that seemed inevitable from the moment an underwhelming draw was made.

Even going through the ties in hindsight it is hard to identify too many that would have held the nation's interest. Those who claim that showing Rochdale's win at Barrow, for example, would have been truer to the spirit of the FA Cup might be being true to themselves but, with the greatest will in the world, the public interest just isn't strong enough to justify a game like that being shown live. Given both the BBC and BT have audience expectations to meet in order to make their investment in the FA Cup viable, that was never a realistic proposition.

[caption id="attachment_106594" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Barrow vs Rochdale would have been the romantic pick of the ties, but would enough people have watched it? (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)[/caption]  

The problem is that we all want our cake and eat it where football is concerned.

We want broadcasters to buy into the magic of the cup, but we don't necessarily want to have to watch when they do. We want the FA, a not for profit organisation, to invest in grassroots but we don't want them to sell broadcasting rights to anyone who will shift kick-off times.

We want as much money as possible to be made available to youth football but we want broadcasters to invest without reserving the right to show those clubs that attract the biggest audiences.

There might be a solution to the problems we all experienced on 3^rd round weekend but until enough of us are willing to watch unfashionable teams on television it is hard to see what it is.