Enzo Maresca’s press conference today was a cheery one in general, as you’d expect from a coach managing a team where everything is going pretty well.
Asked if there were any new injury issues, the Italian coach was able to say a full and complete “no,” although there’s a caveat:
“No. Finally we are all available. [Apart from] the suspended ones,” Maresca said.
Those “suspended ones” are Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella, who both picked up 5th yellow cards last time out. That means a changed – and weakened – team for our tough away trip to Anfield this weekend.
But rather than admit it’s going to be a problem, Maresca brushed it off with a hint of defensiveness:
“Yeah, it’s not a problem. I’ve said since we started: I’m very happy with the squad, very happy with the players we are using. Since we started, we have tried to share the minutes with all of the competition. We have two suspended players and we are going to find different players that can play.”
Maresca not looking to add excuses in advance
It’s understandable that Maresca would play this down – he’s hardly going to play up the issues his team may have and lower their confidence just a couple of days before the game. They have also been able to prepare for this reshuffle for more than two weeks, even if Cucurella’s likely replacement Renato Veiga will only have just come back from a (very successful) stint of Portugal duty in the last day or two.
Liverpool away was going to be a tough game either way – but it’s certainly not ideal that the consistency of selection which has been such a cornerstone of our success this season is going to be taken away just as we hit such a major hurdle.
