Jurgen Klopp dealt another heavy blow to the magic of the FA Cup with his team selection against Plymouth.
Argyle left Anfield delighted to have secured a 0-0 draw, but it has to be said Liverpool didn’t seem to be taking the tie entirely seriously.
The Reds’ XI that took to the pitch was the youngest in the club’s history, and even more experienced names like Lucas Leiva are hardly Klopp’s natural picks.
The German insisted, per the Liverpool Echo, that he didn’t even realise he was fielding such a record-breaking young side and only picked the team he did because of injuries to a number of his key players.
“Was it (the youngest)? With Lucas in?! (he turns 30 tomorrow),” he said.
“We didn’t think for a second about it. Honestly.
“We made the line-up because the boys deserve it because it looks in training like that.
“And you can always think ‘okay leave this player in, that player in’ but we’ve had one or two problems the last few weeks.
“No player on the bench had an issue but Daniel (Sturridge) had three days with no training, Adam (Lallana) played straight away after injury, Gini has played nearly everything.
“So for every player there was a reason why he should not be on the pitch and Emre (Can, who started) had a few injury problems (previously) and probably that’s why he played a little bit less a few weeks ago.
“So in the end it was that line-up and they deserved it. They are important players in our squad and that’s how we used them.”
It means both Liverpool and Plymouth will still be in the hat for the 4th round draw on Monday night.
We’re 11 years on from the Gerrard final when the men from Merseyside last lifted the FA Cup, and their prospects aren’t looking promising.
The starting XI against Plymouth is just another indication that their squad is lacking a little strength-in-depth, and that could be an issue even if they choose to focus entirely on their Premier League title race.
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