Kenny’s Transfer Strategy Now Paying Dividends

Kenny Dalglish may have never lost against Chelsea as manager of Liverpool; yet that didn’t stop the 60-year-old Scot warning supporters to think twice before purchasing tickets for the Reds Carling Cup quarter-final clash against the Blues on Tuesday night.

After branding the scheduling of the Stamford Bridge tie, 48 hours after a key Premier League fixture against league leaders Manchester City, a ‘disgrace’, Dalglish admitted it was likely he would be forced to field an understrength side against the West London outfit.

There appeared to be nothing understrength about Liverpool however as they extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with a third successive victory over the Blues at Stamford Bridge, following goals from Argentine winger Maxi Rodriguez and young full-back Martin Kelly.

King Kenny was forced to make wholesale changes to the side that pinned, passed and pressed City into near submission at Anfield on Sunday. Only goalkeeper Pepe Reina, left-back Jose Enrique and central midfielders Lucas and Jordan Henderson remained, with seven new faces contributing to the victory which brought the Reds a step closer to their first Wembley appearance in over 15 years.

Last season’s Carling Cup exit at home to lowly Northampton exposed the extent of Liverpool’s deep-rooted problems under Roy Hodgson, however against Andre Villas-Boas’ side the Reds fringe players functioned like a well-oiled machine despite the mass changes in personnel, showing the current strength-in-depth at Dalglish’s disposal.

Previous second-string cup selections used to send shivers down the back of most Kopites, with the club’s deadwood often entrusted to navigate a safe passage into the next round. Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic, winger Ryan Babel and Frenchman David N’gog are prime examples, all part of the side who were humiliatingly exposed by the League Two strugglers last term. It was the final straw for former manager Hodgson, who claimed he felt ‘deceived’ by the strength of the side he had put out.

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