The idea of Liverpool deliberately looking to exclude themselves from domestic cup competitions, even for the benefit of their overall campaign, rightly wouldn’t sit well with the fanbase.
It’s a club built on a never-say-die attitude, on a belief that we should be going for every honour on the table.
Yet, despite that, we’ve seen pundits, including Champions League winner Jamie Carragher, urge Arne Slot to abandon the pursuit of domestic cup glory in favour of the bigger picture.
Not to suggest that this advice borders on insanity – there is a cold logic that appeals. Certainly so if Liverpool finish the 2024/25 campaign as Premier League and Champions League winners.
But is that worth compromising the club’s core values?
It’s hard not to sympathise with Carragher’s comments given we’ve seen a push for maximum honours is perfectly capable of derailing a season come the March/April mark.
Paul Merson, likewise, seems to share this view, having expressed some concern at what he views to be a ‘nightmare’ situation for the club following a Carabao Cup victory over Southampton.
“Getting through to the semi-final is a nightmare for them because now they have to play two extra games in January and that’s a huge load on this team,” the Sky Sports pundit wrote in his column with Sportskeeda.
“If I’m being honest, that win for Liverpool in the cup was not a good result. These games just mount up and it could end up being a problem. When you get to the semi-final, you cannot mug around, you need to play your best team!”
We’ll now be set to play out the first leg of a two-legged clash with Tottenham on the week beginning January 6, with the second leg commencing on the week beginning February 3.
On a positive note, an FA Cup third round meeting with Accrington Stanley on January 11 should grant Arne Slot a rare opportunity for rotation.
With Liverpool having already guaranteed a round of 16 place in the Champions League knockout stage, we’ll skip the dreaded play-offs (taking place on February 11/12 and February 18/19. So there will be some respite ahead of the round of 16 fixtures in March.
So, yes, there’ll be some extra mileage in our legs, but things don’t look quite so bad overall.
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