After Brendan Rodgers made seven changes for Liverpool's Champions League tie at Real Madrid, two TEAMtalk writers debate whether he was right.
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Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers caused a stir on Tuesday evening when he made seven changes to his side for the Champions League tie at Real Madrid, leaving out Dejan Lovren, Glen Johnson, Jordan Henderson, Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Mario Balotelli.
The Reds actually competed better at the Bernabeu than they had against the same opponents at Anfield a fortnight earlier, going down by a solitary goal, and afterwards Rodgers insisted he picked what he felt was the best team for the occasion.
But was he really right to leave his leading lights out of the starting line-up?
James Marshment and Mark Holmes have their say...
Rodgers right (James Marshment)
After fielding their strongest available XI in the first game against Real Madrid at Anfield a fortnight earlier, Brendan Rodgers was 100% correct to field a 'weakened XI' for the return at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
Managers constantly tell you that to maintain a challenge on multiple fronts the entire squad must be utilised at various stages over a season, and having invested on strengthening his pool over the summer, I think it's right that some of these players were given their chance in Madrid.
Many felt beforehand there was an element of risk to Rodgers' selections, that a heavy defeat would reflect badly on the manager and put a severe dent in an already-fragile squad morale. But what happened was probably the opposite.
Whilst not a vintage Liverpool display, the players on show certainly didn't disgrace themselves - and if anything the side on Tuesday night put up far more of a fight than the XI before them a fortnight earlier, who I believe were too respectful of the European champions.
Let's face it - how many teams go the Bernabeu and take anything off what is probably the best attacking line-up in world football? What would have been the point in selecting an apparent strongest XI and still getting beat anyway? That would have meant a more-jaded look about the team for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off against Chelsea - a match which arguably is of more significance to Liverpool's season.
By resting, for the most part, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling in Spain, Liverpool have given themselves a much better chance of taking something from the clash with Jose Mourinho's in-form Blues.
Rodgers will have known in the back of his mind that Liverpool's Champions League future won't have hinged on that trip to the Bernabeu, but more on their next two games in the competition against Ludogorets away and Basel at home.
As one of the game's top managers (love him, or loathe him you cannot deny he's manager at one of the world's top clubs), Rodgers is paid to make tough team selections such as that last night, and for the reasons stated, I believe got it absolutely on the money.
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Rodgers wrong (Mark Holmes)
First of all, regardless of what Rodgers said, it was a weakened team he fielded in Madrid on Tuesday night.
He may have more options than he did last season, but Rodgers is being hugely disrespectful to the Liverpool fans by trying to suggest he left out Lovren, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling and Coutinho for the good of the team.
There is certainly an argument that some of the team's fringe players deserve more of a chance given the first choices' performances for much of this season, but to make seven changes against the European champions was a clear sign that Rodgers had effectively written the game off.
No matter how well the stand-ins may have performed at the Bernabeu, it would be a huge surprise if more than three of them retain their places for Saturday's Premier League clash with Chelsea.
Rodgers clearly saw that as a more important, more winnable game, and, unlike on Tuesday night, he will field what he genuinely believes to be his strongest line-up available.
We are used to seeing managers prioritising the Premier League over the Europa League, which is understandable for clubs with Champions League aspirations or even those that have found themselves scrapping at the wrong end of the table having struggled to cope with the extra games in Europe.
It is rather more unusual for a club to rest players in the Champions League, let alone a glamour clash with Real Madrid, and there is little doubt that some of the Reds' travelling supporters, not to mention those left on the bench, will be disappointed with Rodgers' decision.
It will, however, be vindicated if Liverpool beat Chelsea. If they can end the Blues' unbeaten record to kickstart their own season it could well look like a masterstroke by Rodgers to have rested key players for a European game they may well have lost anyway.
Lose to Chelsea, however, and this is a week that Liverpool fans will not forget in a hurry - and for all the wrong reasons.
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