Sunday brings to a close a very memorable season for Liverpool for all sorts of reasons, some of them good, some of them not so much. Away at Swansea won’t be an easy fixture and a win there would be a good result if we can achieve this. We can finish either 7th, 8th or 9th and it’s easy to argue that there is no real difference for a club like ours, whichever we end up in is below what we expect and certainly below what is acceptable. The two sides around us, Fulham and Everton, both have difficult games so we do have a realistic chance of 7th if we can bring all three points back from North Wales. Being a point behind our neighbours adds a little spice to what could otherwise be a fairly flat final day for us and, while finishing above Everton is certainly not an aim for us like it is for them, it would be nice to not end up below them in the final table.
With all of this in mind it makes choosing a team for the game quite difficult. Should Kenny pick the strongest team possible in order to give us the best chance of winning? Should the younger players like Coates, Shelvey and Henderson be given the ninety minutes in their preferred positions to help aid their development? Should we give the even younger players like Raheem Sterling and Jack Robinson a game? Should players who look like they might be on their way out like Maxi and Kuyt be given the chance to play for us one last time? It’s not an easy call.
In the grand scheme of things the difference between finishing 7th and 9th isn’t great and playing youngsters who have a real chance of making the grade at Anfield seems like a decent approach to take into the game. However I think that our league results since Christmas have been so poor that the chance to win two games on the run at the end of the season should be taken with both hands. This season has had so many negatives that if we can finish on a positive it would make our summer so much better. Kenny Dalglish is a man who has been under so much scrutiny and has come in for so much criticism over the last few months and a victory would help his cause so I think he should pick as strong a side as he can.
My starting eleven would be Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Carragher, Johnson, Downing, Gerrard, Henderson, Bellamy, Carroll and Suarez. The likes of Sterling, Coates, Robinson and Shelvey should certainly be on the bench along with Doni, Kuyt and either Enrique or Maxi. This isn’t necessarily the squad I think Dalglish will go with but it’s what I would pick. Swansea have played well this season and Sunday will be a big celebration of their season for them and whoever is in our side will find it a tough match. A victory for Liverpool would help us look to next season with excitement rather than dread whereas a defeat would leave us feeling pretty down going into the break. We’ve definitely got the squad to win comfortably at the Liberty Stadium and our away results this season have been much better than those at home so we should go into the game with confidence and a positive attitude. Let’s hope the performance and result against Chelsea on Tuesday can be repeated and then let’s get this season behind us and prepare properly for our next campaign.
No comments:
Post a Comment