Arne Slot’s decision to rotate and rest for the Carabao Cup not only led to Liverpool’s sixth defeat in seven games, but also increased the pressure on a decisive series of games to come.
Take away the context of Liverpool’s current form and Slot’s ten changes for the visit of Crystal Palace were not unreasonable.
With Alisson, Giovanni Leoni, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak all unavailable, along with both Stefan Bajcetic and Jayden Danns, the usual wholesale rotation was made more difficult.
Liverpool started the match still with six established senior players: Alexis Mac Allister, Federico Chiesa, Milos Kerkez, Wataru Endo, vice-captain Andy Robertson and the club’s longest-serving player, Joe Gomez.
Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha are also familiar first-team players, while debutant goalkeeper Freddie Woodman is far from inexperienced with 278 league appearances under his belt at the age of 28.
Had Leoni and Jones been fit, it would certainly have been a more cohesive second-string side, removing the only two risks on paper by starting Calvin Ramsay for the first time in three years and handing 18-year-old Kieran Morrison his debut.
But the reality is that Liverpool were hiding nothing on Wednesday night; Once Ismaila Sarr scored the first of his two first-half goals, defeat was a foregone conclusion for a battling group of players.
A shift to another new system, this time a 3-4-3 with Endo and Robertson both out of position as centre-backs, certainly didn’t help matters.
It seemed like a necessary decision, but one of the main problems was that it increased the workload for the only player left after Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Brentford, with Kerkez appearing trapped in his demanding full-back role.
For Slot, the whole night seemed more like a must situation.
The choice to reject yet another pre-match press conference highlighted the Carabao Cup’s low position on the priority list and the appointment of a nine-man bench made up entirely of academy players only further underlined that.
While in previous years Liverpool’s heavily rotated sides have been able to get through the early rounds of the domestic cups – perhaps with more determination than judgment – this time there was a sense that an early exit had been accepted before kick-off.
Why Slot thought he had to rotate – and appoint an academy bench
There will have been many people who dutifully left Anfield feeling shortchanged as they watched an inevitable 3-0 defeat in the pouring rain – and that feeling could be amplified if the narrative doesn’t change soon.
Virgil Szobosley, Countale Wirtz.
“When I look at our performance against Brentford, two days after we played Frankfurt, I saw a team there that was perhaps struggling to play three games in seven days,” he told reporters at his post-match press conference.
He added: “In two days we play Villa and the last time I played against a player who we thought was ready for that program but maybe wasn’t, was Alexander Isak and he was out with an injury.
“The last time [in this competition] we played against Southampton, Giovanni Leoni dropped out with an injury in a match like this and we got a red card for Hugo Ekitike.
“I think at the moment, with only 15 or 16 players available, I felt it was the right decision and I haven’t changed my opinion on that after the result.”
Later in his press conference, Slot hinted at a problem with Liverpool’s squad following a summer in which eight first-team players were sold and a further four loaned out, along with the tragic death of Diogo Jota.
“A year ago we did the same thing, but maybe the line-up felt different,” he said, before pointing to Man City and Chelsea’s ability to field stronger substitutes than his.
“We are currently only missing four players and we had to start with four players under the age of 19. After I made two substitutions, we were at six.”
The selection process at Liverpool is a collaborative effort and every decision is carefully considered, but Slot would certainly have benefited from keeping, for example, Harvey Elliott, who was already out of favor at Aston Villa, around.
It still means that some of those involved in this latest chastening defeat will be called up again to at least be on the bench for the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday evening; one of Kerkez or Robertson will start again.
That clash with Villa kicks off a series of three games in nine days that will decide whether Slot’s call to effectively surrender the Carabao Cup was a calculated risk or an unfortunate gamble at a time when victory would have boosted morale.
Liverpool must now beat Villa – otherwise the gamble will backfire
Villa on Saturday, Real Madrid on Tuesday and Man City the following Sunday; it’s a blockbuster period in Liverpool’s season and one in which Slot desperately needs a return to form.
If Liverpool manage to revive their fortunes with positive results in each of these three matches, the Carabao Cup defeat will soon be forgotten.
However, if this miserable stretch continues, and especially if the record becomes one win in ten in the run-up to the last international breakthrough of the year, the pressure on Slot and his defending champions will only increase.
It can certainly be argued that a smaller rotation and the ability to introduce the likes of Szoboszlai, Wirtz and Salah from the bench to secure a win on Wednesday night would have eased that pressure considerably.
But that’s the risk Slot has taken, and everyone involved can simply hope it pays off.
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