Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool drew 2-2 away to a lower-league side tonight.
Martin Keown has admitted on BBC Radio 5 Live that it was ‘strange’ for him to see Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp start Takumi Minamino up front instead of Divock Origi.
An under-strength Liverpool XI drew 2-2 away to Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup this evening, forcing the title-chasing Reds to endure a replay.
Origi has been Klopp’s second-choice striker behind Roberto Firmino for much of the season but the German manager made a surprising tactical shift.
Instead of deploying the Belgian as the number nine, Klopp started Origi on the left-hand side and made new signing Minamino spearhead the attack.
It didn’t really work for either player, and Keown has admitted that the decision puzzled him.
He said: “It’s strange that Jurgen Klopp has chosen to play Takumi Minamino down the middle. You would imagine that Divock Origi would be the obvious candidate to do that.”
Keown definitely has a point but, then again, this is Jurgen Klopp we’re talking about.
He’s comfortably the best manager in world football right now and if he decides that he wants Origi on the left and Minamino through the middle then the Liverpool boss has to be trusted.
There is undeniably method to his madness and it’ll be interesting to see if he’s quizzed about it post-match.
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