Xherdan Shaqiri.
Divock Origi.
Good players who can’t find themselves breaking into Jurgen Klopp’s first 15 players. That shows you the strength in depth of this Liverpool squad that the manager has built up.
For too long, the difference between Liverpool and a club like Manchester City, was the sheer depth of their respective squads. Liverpool would have 15-18 players whereas Manchester City could have fielded a second team all season and still finished in the fop four not so long ago.
However, through great recruitment and excellent coaching at the academy level, Liverpool are now able to go to a side like Lincoln away, and score seven goals with a much-changed side.
Klopp played Virgil Van Dijk to help out debutant Rhys Williams, other than that, Liverpool made 10 changes and were still very strong.
It wasn’t a long time ago that a Liverpool team making ten changes wouldn’t have had one single first team international included. In fact, last week, it was a year to the day Liverpool were knocked out by Northampton at Anfield.
Summer signings Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota featured and impressed, while Takumi Minamino staked a positive case to be more than a squad player and he will look to be challenging Roberto Firmino in the not so distant future.
Academy graduate Curtis Jones was named as the Man of the <atch after two well taken and manufactured goals, while Neco Williams provided another steady performance showing he can be used as a good right sided back up to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Shaqiri, who was used in a different and more conservative role, showed why he should be included in most Liverpool squads, after a long spell away from the first team squad, however, he may have been playing for a move away. If that was the case, he did himself no harm with his sublime opening goal.
It’s positive for Klopp and his backroom staff to see players such as Marko Grujic, Tsimikas, Origi ad others be utilised in the cups and to produce positive performances because the key to going far in the cups, especially in recent seasons, has been to use your squad in the correct manner, while giving first team players a rest.
Liverpool going through now means they play Arsenal twice in four days in the coming week, and the cup game on Thursday will be an even more significant test for Klopp’s squad, as he will look to rotate and keep everybody fresh ahead of a tough period.
