The recent FA Cup Third Round saw a number of high-profile clubs, and some lesser ones to be fair, field what were, on paper at least, ‘weakened sides’. The most high profile of these was probably Liverpool, where the injury-hit nature of Jurgen Klopp’s squad and quality of opponent faced forcing the manager to make wholesale changes to his starting XI. The German in fact fielded a side with only 34 appearances for the club between them this season, 21 of those being from Christian Benteke!
Of course this is an extreme example of squad rotation, Klopp’s hand predominantly forced by necessity and an unfamiliarity with the rigours of English football. But nevertheless, eyebrows were raised by fans and the press alike prior to the game, some questioning the decision, even asking if Klopp was disrespecting the FA Cup by fielding a ‘weakened side’. Klopp denied this, naturally.
Many other sides though made multiple changes to their line-ups without such injury problems, and the question of teams disrespecting their opponents or the competition is often raised at times like this. Such is the sacred nature of the FA Cup that people seem to get easily offended when clubs and managers are perceived to be ‘disrespecting’ the competition – a trend arguably started by Manchester United in 1999/00 when they completely omitted themselves from the tournament in order to take part in the Club World Cup, and subsequently was continued in the 2000s by Arsene Wenger, who often insisted on playing ‘the kids’ in cup games.
Such are the demands of the modern day football club and player, particularly those in the upper echelons of the league, that player rotation and utilising every corner of manager’s squad should not be lambasted and questioned quite as much as it appears it is. Before a season starts and/or for certain competitions, managers are asked to submit a 23-man squad in order to provide enough players to compete in multiple games and multiple competitions over the course of a season. This allows each manager to overcome injuries and suspensions and compensate for tactical decisions and losses of form. If anything, it could be seen as disrespectful to those fringe players bought for those matches to call them lesser options.
It seems a little unfair to me that when, on certain occasions and in certain games, managers make sweeping changes to their starting XI they get criticised, questioned or even, in the case of Blackpool in 2011, fined for using an alleged weakened side! Managers are paid a huge amount of money, well those in the Premier League at least, to make the big decisions and live or die by those calls. Should it not be a manager’s prerogative to choose a side as he see’s fit without fear of some sort of backlash?
Squad management is an important part of running a football team. And whilst freedom of speech and an opinion on football are the right of any journalist, pundit or fan – and of course it’s all the better for it – I would argue that the furore that often surrounds such decisions is in conflict with a manager’s right to make the best decisions for that football club as he sees fit.
In the case of Klopp and the Liverpool side that played in that game against Exeter, the German manager was somewhat forgiven due to his relatively short time in English football, not to mention his jovial manner. Other manager’s are not always so lucky!
[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]
