Around this time of the year, it can be a little tedious to see media coverage of a particular Premier League team’s chances of completing a “historic” treble or quadruple.
It seems to happen every year: whomever it is doing well in the league and cups gets a few spreads in the tabloids, talking up their chances of winning everything.
The main reason Liverpool are doing well on all fronts this season is because they have a good squad this season.
Too often in the past #LFC’s starting XI have been class but once the squad suffers a few injuries, there’s a big gap in quality.
Quality squad depth is essential.
— ReviewFootball (@ReviewFootball) March 2, 2022
The managers and players downplay it, of course, as that’s part of their media training. The answer is usually something like, “we will take it one game at a time.”.
This season, it is Liverpool’s turn. After winning the EFL Cup last weekend, there is now talk of a quadruple of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. At the time of writing, they are 7/2 in the Champions League betting outright, 3/1 in the Premier League betting, and 13/4 in the FA Cup betting. In each of those competitions, they are second-favourites (or co-second favourites) to Manchester City.
Squad depth should please fans
We won’t get bogged down in discussing Liverpool’s chances of trebles or quadruples, nor Man City’s either. Except for the fact that Liverpool fans should be buoyed at the strength of the squad at the disposal of Jurgen Klopp to at least make a good fight of it.
Man City’s squad depth has always been their key advantage over Liverpool in recent years. If everyone was fit, Liverpool could always match them in an 11 vs. 11 match. But when injuries started to take their toll in a long season (see last year as an example), City could call upon superior resources.
Liverpool manager Klopp delighted with squad depth this season https://t.co/whkLpcXVsw #football #news #sport pic.twitter.com/RdDIgfsEpI
— DAVID PREMIER (@davidpremier) March 3, 2022
The balance is tipping. The Reds’ have a plethora of options, particularly in attack, which means Klopp can give each of the remaining competitions full attention without tiring out his players.
The luxury of having a three-pronged attack using a combination of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and (new recruit) Luis Diaz is something that should serve Liverpool well in the coming months. Dare we say it: it reminds us of Manchester United’s famous attack in the 1999 season. Not in terms of style of play, but due to the fact there is no best starting line-up.
Diverse options offer a Plan B
Diaz, who arrived in January, has hit the ground running, and it has been incredible how quickly he has bought into the “Liverpool way”. But perhaps more importantly for Liverpool is the fact that each of the players offers something different in terms of style.
Sadio Mane started in the striker’s position in the EFL Cup Final, but he offers something very different to the classic no.9 play of Jota. Firmino, too, offers a unique attacking threat due to his dogged style of play.
Liverpool are the only team to remain perfect in the #UCL. ? pic.twitter.com/j3T257jBHv
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 7, 2022
The point, as such, is that not only does Klopp have quality players in reserve in his squad, but that they each offer something different. It gives Klopp a Plan B (and a Plan C) if the Reds find themselves in a tight spot late on in a Champions League match or FA Cup Final.
Rivals like City, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea obviously have wonderful resources at their disposal too. But we might argue that Liverpool’s are a little more diverse.
Again, we should stress: We don’t think Liverpool are going to win a treble or quadruple. It gets talked about every year (Man City were pinpointed last year), and football rarely works like that. But Liverpool fans should be pleased that they have enough strength in the squad to give it a serious tilt.
