Michael Owen can barely believe the injury record at Liverpool right now. The Reds were able to heavily rotate vs Benfica.
Liverpool are in a remarkably busy period of the season right now. They played Benfica in a Champions League quarter-final last week, then Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, then the return leg against Benfica tonight, City again on Saturday, Manchester United after that and then Everton in the derby.
How do you manage your squad throughout that? It’s not an enviable task but Jurgen Klopp is certainly in an enviable position with it all. As Michael Owen pointed out to BT Sport, the Liverpool boss is in a situation he’d have dreamed of.
Klopp opted to rotate quite heavily at Anfield tonight, swapping out seven players. It’s a luxury that he can do that right now.
Michael Owen on Liverpool
“When I first heard they were going to make so many changes I thought ‘oh my word, what’s the team going to look like?’ but when you look at the team it’s actually not bad at all,” said Owen. “It’s a very strong squad that they’ve got.
“And incredibly at this stage of the season – nearly mid-April – they’ve got literally everybody fit. Which is just unbelievable.
“To be able to go into these big games between now and the end of the season with a full squad to choose from is everything [Klopp] could have dreamed of.”
He’s absolutely right – and what a contrast to last season. Liverpool battled to a third-placed finish without half their squad a year ago. Now they’re able to rotate heavily and compete in three competitions. They already have one trophy, of course.
That’s the beauty of having such incredible depth. One of them, anyway. The real advantage is supposed to be the ability to cover an injury crisis. Without those injuries, Liverpool are able to keep everyone fresh as they play massive game after massive game.
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