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The temptation and the risk are just as great: Everton faces West Ham at home for the round of 16 of the Carabao Cup (1:45 pm Colombian time) and has the option of staying alive in a tournament that distributes prizes important but also the risk of being eliminated and repeating the bitter history that Chelsea has just written.
The doubt of coach Carlo Ancelotti is clear: use James Rodríguez and the stellar reinforcements of the season to ensure a victory in a tournament that may well be the ‘jackpot’, or trust ‘unit B’ a giant responsibility to make everyone feel important.
And is that James, the great figure at the phenomenal start in the Premier League, with 9 points out of 9 at stake, is a permanent temptation. But so are Allan and Doucouré, the other stellar reinforcements who are the backbone of this dream start to the season.
Why risk James and the Cup starters?
It is the reason for Ancelotti’s concern. It is worth remembering that the winner of the Carabao Cup will have access to the preliminary phase of the Europa League, which is not a minor detail for a team like Everton, which spent last season away from those positions and was their great goal (it ended in 12th place).
The boosters are what you can call ‘victims of your success’, as their Premier benefits make them candidates. So far only Doucouré has been called up against Fleetwood Town, but Allan and James could lend a hand now as the quarter-finals come.
West Ham is a demanding opponent and should be faced with the best cards available. In fact, Tottenham just gave proof of the need to use a competitive payroll: they faced Chelsea with a mixed team from the start but suffered a lot to equalize and ended up needing several of their stars, Kane included, to prevail in the end in definition by penalties.
Why not use James and the reinforcements?
The first argument is the calendar: if James, Doucouré and Allan play this Wednesday, they would only have three days of recovery before the duel against Brighton, a duel that needs to be drawn with a victory as it would lead Ancelotti’s team to the classic against Liverpool with full victories in the Premier.
It is true that there would be 16 days until the derby at Goodison Park, but there is no reason to physically risk the fixed ones of the Premier, especially a James who comes from two seasons with significant physical problems that, fortunately, have not appeared in this glittering premiere in English football. You should not tempt your luck …
The other issue Ancelotti is considering is his handling of the locker room in these instances in which Walcott and Gordon have raised their voices for others who have lost prominence with the arrival of reinforcements.
How to explain to Gylfi Sigurdsson, Bernard and Alex Iwobi that after fulfilling in the previous phases of the tournament they will no longer be starters? Even Gordon himself would have the door closed and he has shown that he is a great alternative coming from the bank. Not to mention Delph, a big debut in Premier and who was not called up against Crystal Palace to be available against West Ham … is it worth creating that hassle?
For a skilled and experienced man, three times Champions Champions, that is not a mistake that can be made: if he trusts his ‘unit B’ they will all feel important, the dressing room will regain harmony and incidentally the regulars will not have to force on the physical with a short preseason and a demanding schedule ahead.
That is why it would be best, as anticipated from Liverpool, to summon James, Allan and Doucouré but only use them in an emergency … and that. In attack, there would be the key goal men, Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, and if anything there would be tests in defense, with a Yerry Mina who needs competition to improve decision-making in risky situations, which would alleviate Digne’s burden, and in an extreme case to improvise Jonas Lossl in the goal against Pickford’s mistakes … which is too high a risk at this point in the Carabao Cup.
According to the Liverpool Echo newspaper, an ideal line-up would be with Pickford, Kenny, Keane, Mina, Nkounkou; Sigurdsson, Delph, Bernard; Iwobi, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison. James wouldn’t be there, but the payroll looks competitive. Now the decision is entirely up to the wise Ancelotti.
