Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp should have fielded a weakened team as a sign of ‘respect’ to Aston Villa, Tony Cascarino claims, after they were forced to play their Under-23s team in their FA Cup third round tie.
Villa called on their youngsters on Friday evening after nine first-team players and five staff tested positive for coronavirus.
It meant none of the senior squad were involved, with the game in doubt until Friday morning after the club shut their training ground on Thursday.
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Klopp admitted all his and his team’s preparations ‘went in the bin’, but the Reds boss still named a strong line-up with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and James Milner all starting.
It was seen as a bit of a ruthless move from the boss, whose side faced a Villa team made up of Under-18s and Under-23s players, many of whom haven’t even passed their driving tests so were driven to Villa Park by their parents.
Four of them – goalscorer Louie Barry, Ben Chrisene, Mo Sylla and Lamare Bogarde – were not even born when Milner made his debut for Leeds in 2002. The youngest was Chrisene at 16, while the most senior was Callum Rowe at just 21.
Still, it wasn’t plain sailing for the Reds against a disciplined and dogged display from the Villa youngsters, who held their own against the Premier League champions.
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The 4-1 scoreline disguised how hard they had to work for the victory, with three goals in four second-half minutes killing off the hosts.
Questions have been asked over Klopp’s team selection, especially due to the manager’s frequent complaints about his players’ workload.
And talkSPORT pundit Cascarino believes the German should have put out a younger team to make it a more even contest.
“To be honest, I was a bit disappointed Liverpool didnt go with an Under-23s team,” said the Weekend Sports Breakfast host.
“There will be many supporters around the country who would disagree with me on this, but I was wanting it to be on a level playing field.
“I didn’t want Liverpool to have Champions League-winning players to go against a Villa team that was more like Under-18s, actually, than Under-23s.
“I would have loved if Jurgen Klopp had gone, ‘you know what, just because we’re Liverpool and we respect what’s happened at Villa Park, we’ll go with Under-23s too’.
“I wanted that to happen.
“I get why they didn’t, because it’s a competition Klopp feels they can win so he went strong so he could win the game.
“Listen, I might be wrong on this, because Villa players might have learned a lot from playing against a quality opposition with a lot of top players, and I’m sure they did.
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“That’s the standard they’re looking at, that’s what they’ve got to get to and it’s a massive gap between where they are in their careers at the top level, so I get that side of it. That was the one benefit for the Villa youngsters.
“And every mum and dad that watched their son play on the telly would have been really proud of their performance.
“So I understand why Liverpool did it, I’m just not 100 per cent behind it.”
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