(A) West Brom - Pre Match Thoughts

                                              League Cup

                                        Saturday 18th August 2012
                                            The Hawthorns

                          West Bromwich Albion VS Liverpool

Attitudes and priorities change over time.  It's only natural that certain things have different relevance based on the current circumstances.  Last season the League Cup was our best chance at silverware and proved to be a highlight in an otherwise frustrating campaign.  If winning this competition wasn't good enough for a previous manager, I can't imagine Brendan Rodgers will put too much credence in this game tonight.  That's not to say we don't want to win.  Regardless of what the supposed merits of this cup are, we are still the holders and both that and our opposition cannot be taken lightly.

First and foremost, in the aftermath of the Man United game on Sunday there will be a lot of players - as well as the manager himself - who will be anxious to get back out onto the pitch to try and return to winning ways as quickly as possible.  That's more than admirable but what with another league game to come in three days it'll be the turn of a similar style eleven to that which we saw in the Europa League last Thursday in Switzerland.  If Suso and Sterling have shown anything in the last few weeks it's that Brendan Rodgers will give those players who stand out a chance to shine on a much bigger stage.  They will have to pass this test first.

It's hard to get any kind of handle on what team Steve Clarke will be putting out tonight as they're a side who would have no feeling one way or another toward the League Cup in these early stages.  If this were more toward the back end of the competition - a quarter or semi final for example - then I imagine we'd be facing a very similar team to that which we took on in the opening game of the season.  A cup run for West Brom is something of an added bonus but one Clarke may be targeting given how well they've started their league season.  

Football - at least on the face of it - always seems to give out second chances readily.  Torres leaves for Chelsea, they're our next opponents.  Lose to them in the FA Cup final and we'll get a small measure of payback at Anfield a few days later.  Having lost to West Brom so convincingly - admittedly it did all fall apart in one small period of the game but fall apart it did - this will be a chance for Brendan Rodgers to go back and right the wrong of the opening day, which would in turn give us that boost of confidence going into a run of games now that we have to be looking to win.

In the aftermath of the game at Anfield, we now have three more players on the sidelines.  Martin Kelly will be out for six months while Daniel Agger and Fabio Borini will be out for a shorter period of time but with those three going down it leaves room for someone to come in and take their place.  Much has been said of Brendan Rodgers' affection for Jack Robinson and tonight will be the perfect chance for him to come in and stamp some authority in the left back spot.  With Enrique's form firmly in the tank, there is a real need for an emergence from somewhere which would allow Glen Johnson in his correct position at right back and give us some much needed balance.  

Up front, there is also an intriguing battle as the more conventional Stewart Downing could be lining up tonight alongside Oussama Assaidi and the two of them could be well facing off for a place in the team against Norwich on Saturday.  There will also be a chance to see Samed Yeşil for the first time since his move from Bayer Leverkusen.  Also, it will have been put across in no uncertain terms that the team cannot defend anywhere near the way in which it did against Young Boys at times.  Jamie Carragher and whatever other senior professionals there are in the team tonight are going to have to be at their utmost, especially given what happened to our more established team here not so long ago.  

One thing that cannot be overstated is the need for a measured reaction to the result.  We're already in something of a predicament in the league and whether we win or lose, the teams problems won't suddenly be infinitely worse or completely solved based on one performance in the league cup.  Brendan Rodgers has done a very good job in juggling his squad so far and been very bold in his selections in the league, unfortunately with very little reward.  The team needs a win but we could do with a few of them back to back.  Given what awaits us, victory here could very well be the start of something.