Liverpool are currently in the midst of a 15 day break from competitive fixtures due to international games.
Ironically, Reds manager Kenny Dalglish is spending some of this break trying to deal with a fixture congestion issue.
The Reds are set to play a high profile clash against Premier League leading Manchester City on November 27th, and have been slotted to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a Carling Cup quarter-final only two days later.
The Chelsea game cannot be moved to Wednesday as the police forces in London would be stretched too thin with other events that day. After finding this out, Dalglish made a plea to the Football League to help him solve the problem, but his requests were denied.
“When we ask the Football League to move our (Chelsea) game to a later date, we’re told it’s impossible,” Dalglish fumed to the official Liverpool FC website. “Where’s the logic in that?”
“It’s understandable with the Spurs v PAOK Salonika match and the TUC rally that the Met Police have said that our game cannot be played on the Wednesday,” continued an unhappy Dalglish. “But it’s surely the duty of the football authorities to think of other solutions which consider the welfare of the players? This clearly hasn’t happened.”
It is easy to sympathize with Dalglish on his point here. We live in an era where managers such as Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp openly dismiss some cup competitions and use them merely as an opportunity to blood young players.
Dalglish has tried to return some magic to the domestic competitions as he battles to get Liverpool back into the trophy winning habit. Sadly, progressing further in the Carling Cup appears to have been punished rather than rewarded here.
It now appears that Dalglish will be forced to go the route of so many other teams, and use the Carling Cup as a platform to rest star players and give the squad's fringe players some game time.
Bearing in mind that Dalglish has asked for and been refused help with the timing of the game, the Football League are in no position to complain if Dalglish were to not field a single regular starter.
“If the Football League want to devalue their own competition it’s up to them,” said Dalglish.
While Dalglish is certainly not the first manager to field a reserve side in a cup game, he may be the first to be considerate enough to warn fans about paying to watch the team play.
“The one thing I will say to our fans is to think carefully before buying tickets for the League Cup game,” warned the Reds boss. “We do not want them spending their money and then we decide there is no other option but to use only young players in the tie.”
Liverpool fans will be hoping that common sense wins out and Liverpool can field a full strength in a rescheduled game. If not, at least Dalglish has had the decency to inform them about what they will be paying to watch.
The Reds are set to play a high profile clash against Premier League leading Manchester City on November 27th, and have been slotted to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a Carling Cup quarter-final only two days later.
The Chelsea game cannot be moved to Wednesday as the police forces in London would be stretched too thin with other events that day. After finding this out, Dalglish made a plea to the Football League to help him solve the problem, but his requests were denied.
“When we ask the Football League to move our (Chelsea) game to a later date, we’re told it’s impossible,” Dalglish fumed to the official Liverpool FC website. “Where’s the logic in that?”
“It’s understandable with the Spurs v PAOK Salonika match and the TUC rally that the Met Police have said that our game cannot be played on the Wednesday,” continued an unhappy Dalglish. “But it’s surely the duty of the football authorities to think of other solutions which consider the welfare of the players? This clearly hasn’t happened.”
It is easy to sympathize with Dalglish on his point here. We live in an era where managers such as Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp openly dismiss some cup competitions and use them merely as an opportunity to blood young players.
Dalglish has tried to return some magic to the domestic competitions as he battles to get Liverpool back into the trophy winning habit. Sadly, progressing further in the Carling Cup appears to have been punished rather than rewarded here.
It now appears that Dalglish will be forced to go the route of so many other teams, and use the Carling Cup as a platform to rest star players and give the squad's fringe players some game time.
Bearing in mind that Dalglish has asked for and been refused help with the timing of the game, the Football League are in no position to complain if Dalglish were to not field a single regular starter.
“If the Football League want to devalue their own competition it’s up to them,” said Dalglish.
While Dalglish is certainly not the first manager to field a reserve side in a cup game, he may be the first to be considerate enough to warn fans about paying to watch the team play.
“The one thing I will say to our fans is to think carefully before buying tickets for the League Cup game,” warned the Reds boss. “We do not want them spending their money and then we decide there is no other option but to use only young players in the tie.”
Liverpool fans will be hoping that common sense wins out and Liverpool can field a full strength in a rescheduled game. If not, at least Dalglish has had the decency to inform them about what they will be paying to watch.
