(H) Young Boys - Pre Match Thoughts

Europa League

Thursday 22nd November 2012

Anfield

Liverpool VS Young Boys

The last home game of the group and our best chance of sealing qualification. Before we've even kicked a ball at Anfield, it will be abundantly clear what's required of the team and with Anzhi currently beating a ten man Udinese with ten minutes to go, it appears that a win would assure our progress through to the next round. Anything else and it'll go down to the final group game in Italy and as we've seen so far, things get massively complicated when you have to travel away from home in Europe. The best for all concerned is to get it wrapped up tonight so that we can rest everyone ahead of the game in Italy.

Of all the players vying for a run in the side, there's a rather bizzare triangle that's formed. All three could possibly be leaving the club in January and the opinions of them could not be more diverse. Stewart Downing was an expensive failiure who through his sheer versatility appeared to have found a niche for himself at left back. His reprisal seems to have hit a brick wall however with reports saying he will almost certainly be moving on in the transfer window. Joe Cole is someone who has no way back. His place in the side is seen as a waste of a selection and we'd be much better off blooding someone from the academy. Then there's Jordan Henderson; the potential star I don't want to lose but whom the manager appears to have little faith in. Following on from his performance against Wigan, he has to put down another marker for himself tonight. A few more games like that could convince Brendan Rodgers to keep him, and that he is more than an expensive mistake from a bygone era.

Setting aside the dilemma of how many - if any - of the senior side we are willing to put out there and at the very least there are those all over the park, underneath the surface, desperate for their chance at making a name for themself. What Brendan Rodgers has been able to do thus far is give those in the academy enough of a boost by making them believe that if they apply themselves well enough in training and take their chances when handed to them, there is a path for them and they will be rewarded. This hasn't always been the case at Liverpool and will surely drive the likes of Jack Robinson, Connor Coady, Adam Morgan and anyone else that hasn't yet been given a chance like Ngoo.

With two difficult away games in the Premier League coming up, it's easy to see why Brendan Rodgers would leave out a lot of his senior squad. Not only are there players hungry to take their place that need games like this to boost their confidence (Suso, Coates, Shelvey and Sahin spring to mind) but we've seen the effect playing a strong side can have in losing heavily to Arsenal and having Glen Johnson miss out through injury. Certainly Joe Allen and Steven Gerrard could do with a break, the real question however would be over Luis Suarez. We know how lightweight and toothless we can appear without him and this is a game we realistically have to win. I'd be very tempted to play him, given the run of form he's in. At the very least I would have him on the bench but given our striking options and our priorities this year, it isn't a question that has an easy answer.

Having scored five against them at their ground, there's no doubt that we're capable of beating them. Beating Wigan at home so comfortably will have done a great deal to ease the fears that we're going to be as bad at home this season as we were last year. European nights at Anfield are more special than certain less than high profile league games because they are a spectacle in themselves. If we are to have any more of them at Anfield this year then we have to win.