Aldridge: Liverpool Must Win Europa League For Fans

IT is widely recognised that
finishing fourth is more
important than winning the
Europa League but Liverpool
can't afford to treat the
opportunity of lifting some
silverware lightly.
So even though Thursday night's
game with Steaua Bucharest
does not capture the
imagination, Liverpool have got
to send out the right message
and make a positive start to life
in Group K.
I've no doubt Roy Hodgson will
make some changes and he has
enough options at the back to be
able to give his first choice back
four a bit of time off to recharge
the batteries.
You wouldn't be surprised if
Fabio Aurelio, Daniel Agger,
Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Martin
Kelly started and I'd expect David
Ngog to take over from Fernando
Torres up front.
Equally, the manager might be
thinking of giving Brad Jones his
first taste of playing for Liverpool
and let Pepe Reina recover from
his heroics at Birmingham City.
Reina was outstanding at St
Andrews and those saves from
Cameron Jerome and James
McFadden will have done
wonders for his confidence.
But, if we could get two or three
goals up with 20 minutes left,
what I would really like to see is
a few of the young kids we are
hearing so much about have a
little run out.
Nothing would give fans more
pleasure than to see a glimpse of
Raheem Sterling, Fernando Suso
or if Dani Pacheco was given 90
minutes.
The only way these kids will
develop and learn is if they mix
with better, seasoned players;
Manchester United do it, as have
others, so why don't we?