Arne Slot admits transfer market dilemma as Liverpool consider three youngsters for Brighton match
It was perhaps the perfect encapsulation of the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool and justification for how the League Cup has been treated by the club in recent years. When the Reds claimed a memorable Wembley win over Chelsea back in February, eight of the 20-man squad were Academy graduates with six featuring in the 1-0 triumph.
But as Liverpool look to continue their defence of the trophy at Brighton on Wednesday evening, the representation from Kirkby is likely to be limited despite the growing injury problems among the senior squad.
Some, such as midfielder James McConnell and striker Jayden Danns - who both played in the final - are recovering from injury, while Bobby Clark left in the summer for Red Bull Salzburg on a permanent deal.
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Most, though, are out on loan. Stefan Bajcetic is another to have joined up with former Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders in Austria, while forwards Ben Doak, Kaide Gordon and Lewis Koumas are impressing in the Championship with Middlesbrough, Norwich City and Stoke City respectively.
All would have been in contention for minutes on the South Coast, with Slot pointing to the difficult balance Liverpool and other leading clubs face over whether to keep Academy prospects in and around the squad or to temporarily further their development elsewhere.
"In certain situations you'd prefer to keep them here because then they can training with you and you can implement in the best possible way your playing style, but if that means they hardly play then it doesn't lead to the progression you are hoping for," says the Reds coach. "That is the balance we always try to find.
"Some players we let on loan, Stefan Bajcetic is a good example of that, then you hope to see he plays a lot and has already played a few games. It's pleasing that he went to a very good manager in Pepijn Lijnders that knows this club also. For Ben Doak it is similar (at Middlesbrough), he also went to a very good manager and a very good playing style.
"Do we want to play them on a regular basis, or once in a while keeping them with us? We have to be aware of our own interests, we can't let everyone go who doesn't play all the time.
"Tyler Morton is a good example of that. He is a quality, quality player, good enough to play everywhere around the league, but is in competition with so many good midfielders here.
"We have six forwards, two of them are injured and only have four left, with the schedule we have, that's sometimes a worry for me. Maybe we should bring Ben Doak back!"
Morton, who spent the last two seasons on loan in the Championship with Blackburn Rovers and then Hull City, has been limited so far this term to just eight minutes late on in the 5-1 win over West Ham United in the last round, but will come into contention along with 17-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni and goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros.
But having made 10 changes against the Hammers last month, Slot accepts there won't be wholesale changes despite the game being the fourth of seven testing assignments in 21 days.
“I don’t think it’s possible to do the same as we did against West Ham for the simple reason that we got some injuries, so we don’t have maybe enough players to change them all if I wanted that," says the Reds boss.
“If you look at our schedule and the amount of times that we have less days to recover compared to our opponent – that’s not (the case) on Saturday because we play Brighton on Wednesday, but Brighton played on Saturday and with (Bayer) Leverkusen it’s the same, they play Friday, we play Saturday – it might be a moment for us to also see some other players.
“But I first have to know how fit everybody is.”
Liverpool will face Brighton again at Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday, and Slot is impressed by the job done by the Seagulls in recent times.
"They've had a very good idea about football for many years and I like their playing style a lot," he says, "What makes Brighton special is they maybe don't have the most money in the league to sign players but they always buy the right ones. They have many quality players to pick and a very good playing style."