Totally take on board everyone saying Mac shouldn’t start. I agree he shouldn’t start. Our issue is that he’s our fittest senior midfielder who played the least football on Sunday. Grav is now injured along with Thiago, Baj and Jones. Szobo and Endo are doubts for tomorrow so are at least potentially injured. Elliot played 120 minutes, a longer stint than Mac. We surely can’t go into a cup tie against a decent side with McConnell, Nyoni and Clark in midfield. It’s not really fair on them to be honest, it’s a huge amount of pressure.
Likewise saying people wouldn’t want that back four. What choice do we have? Bradley and Robbo didn’t play the full 90, Gomez played for an hour and Quansah played 15 minutes. I’d rather start them and then haul Bradley and Robbo off to play alongside Konate and VVD on Saturday. I don’t know if there are any other U23 defenders who could come in and do a job at RB - Tsimikad could start at LB. No reason Gomez or Quansah can’t play.
We’re not playing against a pub side. Southampton were a PL team last season and are in a strong position to get promoted. Finding the right balance of experience and youth in this game is challenging, but we’re already talking about Kelleher, Bradley, Quansah, McConnell, Clark and Danns starting a cup tie. They’ve done brilliantly for us so far but they’re still inexperienced and it’s asking a lot for them to beat Southampton.
It would be fucking awful if this went to ET and pens, as it could. Klopp will want to win this tie, so we’re not going to be playing Kelleher plus the U23s. The ideal situation would be to go 2 or 3 up then rest anyone who needs a rest.