Quantcast
View from the Kop

Should Kenny Put Sentiment Before Form For the Final?

|
Image for Should Kenny Put Sentiment Before Form For the Final?

I was directed to an article on icLiverpool Wednesday morning, where Liverpool Legend John Aldridge talks about some ‘selection dilemmas’ he believes that Kenny is facing in the build-up to the League Cup final on Sunday.

While I agree with some positions he mentions raising questions for Kenny, i.e. does Henderson start, or Kuyt? Do Spearing and Adam start together? Or do we sacrifice one and go for a Suarez/Carroll pairing up front?  There are a number of dilemmas and I imagine Kenny will be analysing all the statistics for the season and calling on advice from his coaching team to make his decisions, along with how certain players perform in training throughout the week.

However, I have to disagree with Aldo in his suggestion that there is a dilemma surrounding who will start at centre-back.  He states that the only position that is a cert is Pepe Reina’s but I would go as far as to say that Skrtel and Agger are nailed on to start together too.  It’s been a long time since Jamie Carragher hasn’t been a first choice and I’m sure the past 4-5 months have really hurt as he can’t be used to spending most matches on the bench.  But now that we’ve found a centre back pairing that could potentially last us for another decade, we can’t do anything to disrupt their development now.

Aldridge’s suggestion is that Kenny will be torn between going with his first choice or going for the more sentimental selection and giving Carragher a start, arguing that he played in many of the earlier rounds.  I’m afraid I would have to completely disagree; this is no time for sentimentality, we need our absolute strongest team out there on Sunday and that doesn’t, I’m sorry to say, include Jamie Carragher.
He has been a beacon of leadership for the Reds over the years and people have all got their favourite Carragher memories from over the years but Jamie’s time has passed and if we’re to move in to the future we need to allow young players like Skrtel and Agger their chance in a major final.  Between them, Skrtel and Agger have provided Liverpool with the strongest defence in the country, after Manchester City and, together with Reina, Johnson and Enrique we have one of the most impressive back 5’s in Europe.

It is for this reason that playing Jamie Carragher for any other reason that absolute necessity would be folly.  He was a great player but we can’t underestimate how important winning on Sunday will be for the club.  We need that impetus and we need to remember what it was to win trophy.  More importantly, most of the younger players need to play 90 minutes of a final and gain that experience so that, in years to come, when we’re contesting FA Cup and Champions League finals, against more illustrious opponents they won’t feel utterly overwhelmed.

In that respect, it was the fact that the likes Carragher, Gerrard, et al had already had experience of many other cup finals that led to them not completely losing their heads in 2005, when 3-nil down; it was that experience that helped pull them out of that hole and in years to come, we will need Agger and Skrtel’s experience like we needed Carragher’s in 2005.  By all means, bring him on for 5-10 minutes at the end, but only once the game is won.  Jamie Carragher is a big part of our illustrious past but Martin and Daniel have to be our future.

Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com

Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool or ‘Like’ us on Facebook

Share this article

I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.

8 comments

  • collie says:

    I agree completely, but there are harder decisions, such as choosing Bellamy, Carroll, or both. I would go for both because Cardiff’s defence is vulnerable, and could be overwhelmed.

  • Eric says:

    This is probably what the team will be like:

    Reina
    Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
    Henderson Adam
    Gerrard
    Suarez Carroll Bellamy

    Subs: Doni, Carragher, Kelly, Spearing, Maxi, Downing, Kuyt.

  • Bekim says:

    Aldo most of the time talks rubbish anyway. Just cos Carrager is from Liverpool it doesn’t mean that he should play. I agree with u completely that partnership f Agger and Skertel should not b broken. YNWA

    • Akers_LFC says:

      I disagree with Bekim. Aldo is an ex-legend and always gave 100%. He is a Liverpool fan through and through. He speaks abt Liverpool proudly – he even belives that Gerrads goal was not an own-goal. I would nt change the back-line but obviously Carragher has vast experience and would nt get carried away with the atmosphere etc. It doesnt matter where the players is born here, there or anywhere. Obviously Agger and Skrtel are playing well, but in the end whoever plays lets get behind the team.

  • NJResFan says:

    You’re right, that’s probably the line-up we’ll see. I would rather see it as;

    Reina
    Kelly, Cara, Skrtel, Enrique
    Adam (for lack of Lucas)
    Johnson, Gerrard, Maxi
    Suarez, Bellamy

    A strong and fast Kelly will help Cara with Adam and Johnson in front of him. Johnson has been our best attacking threat going down the right side, creative and not afraid to drive into the box, move him up to mid. Enrique/Maxi/Bellamy has been our strongest left side combination.
    This line-up could strike hard and fast and give us a comfortable enough lead where Cara could be subbed off to a hero’s cheer. Once Suarez and Bellamy have just worn out the defence then sub Bellamy out and put Carroll out there to finish the job. Subs should be made no later than the 60 minute mark.

  • Shibashis says:

    All that matters is that piece of silver at the end of 90 minutes, then let Carra hold the cup high, I am certain he will not mind!
    We need that cup, the importance of which can not be underestimated at this juncture.

    • Akers_LFC says:

      Your spot on. In the end we want Liverpool to approach the game well and come back with a sliverware and hopefully bring back a tradition of trophies back to Anfield

  • Shaun says:

    I think we need to get real about this whole Skrtel-Agger partnership for the next decade! I do like them both, but they are far from great!!! Even injury prone Lescott and Ledley King are better! Teams such as Blackburn posess Samba who are also much better! Let’s be real here! I was glad that Kenny and Co. didn’t spend a cent in the transfer window ALL DUE TO THE FACT that he has a big squad and HE SHOULD (which he doesn’t…a la Maxi not playing more and Hendo playing all the time which is confusing because he has NOT made an impact 95% of the time!!!) be playing a few youngsters!! How do you build a RESPECTABLE club? By BUYING every Tom, Dick and Harry that has a good year like the “who cares” of football a la Chelsea, ManCity??!!!??? NOT AT ALL! I’ve been watching young Andre Wisdom do well year after year and not even get a “PEEP” of a crack in a game! What about Martin Kelly? Is he not good enough!!??? He damn well is! What about the young prodigy, who we stumped his growth by putting him on a bench for a year in Danny Wilson!
    Come on Reds Fans, don’t just look at the 1st team on paper, look at the youth we have! I may loathe Ferguson, but like him Arsene, Harry, Barca’s setup, PROMOTES AND DEVELOPS young talent within the system! We haven’t been able to Produce a young StevieG, Fowler, Owen, Carra for a long time, because players like Pacheco, Jonjo, Kelly, Flanno, Robbo, Wisdom, and hopefully not the younger players to come in Dunn, Sterling, Suso, Morgan, Ibe, Texiera etc..etc..aren’t really given a chance and not loaned out for a year to get their feet wet! I still scratch my head at Daglish re-calling Jonjo to sit on the bench! :s Play the young developing talent or Rodolfo and Pep Seguera(architect behind the amazing youth set up many years ago) WILL BE GONE, due to frustration of having youngsters NOT GET very few opportunities to crack the 1st team!!!

Comments are closed.