Liverpool were forced into three changes due to injury at Brentford, leaving Jurgen Klopp with the decision to see Andy Robertson “manage” his way to the full-time whistle.
The Reds would have called Saturday a near perfect day had it not been for injuries to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota, in addition to Darwin Nunez also ‘feeling something‘.
Klopp’s men enjoyed a 4-1 victory at Brentford – their first win at their ground since they returned to the topflight – to avoid a potential banana skin, but it came at a cost.
Liverpool are counting their losses when it comes to injuries, with Alisson added to the list late on Friday, and it tied one hand behind Klopp’s back when it came to substitutions.
By half-time, the Reds had already made three changes, and they had two left at the death, with the manager electing to take off Alexis Mac Allister and Conor Bradley.
“We had the situation, again, with changes. Who do we take off? Robbo, who played the second game in a row after a long, long break, or is it Conor?” Klopp explained post-match.
“Decided in the end, it’s Conor. Robbo can maybe manage it with his experience slightly better.”
In an ideal world, Klopp may have been eager to withdraw both of his full-backs, but he elected for the younger of the two.
Bradley returned to training on Tuesday after missing the previous two games for compassionate leave, while Robertson played his first 90 minutes last week after four months out.
It is not the juggling act the manager will want to have when witnessing one player after the other succumb to injury, but he clearly trusted Robertson to play it smart when seeing out the match.
Thankfully, Liverpool were in full control at that stage and they saw the game out without further issue – even adding another goal to the tally!
With games coming in quick succession, the importance of squad management has grown ten-fold, and let’s just hope those injuries are not as serious as some may fear.
