Jason McAteer: FA Cup Merseyside derby clash could be tricky for Liverpool

Ask Jordan Henderson whether he would love to lift the FA Cup at Wembley as captain of Liverpool, and he’d say without a doubt, but you just know this competition isn’t a high priority at Anfield this season.

I was fortunate enough to play in an FA Cup final with Liverpool in 1996 at the old Wembley and it was a day I’ll never forget, even though we lost to Manchester United.

But then I’m of an age when the FA Cup meant a lot more than it does now.

When I was a kid in the playground or down the park I was pretending to be Kenny Dalglish scoring a goal in an FA Cup final, not a European Cup final. It was always that way round.

So Liverpool against Everton in an FA Cup tie should be as big a fixture as there is, but we all know how the land lies these days.

And yes, Jurgen Klopp will say all the right things this weekend about his respect for the competition, respect for his team and the opposition, but everyone knows that his priorities this season are bringing the Premier League title to Anfield for the first time, defending the Champions League crown and everything else is an after-thought.

What he will also say is that when he makes those changes against Everton he won’t bring in fringe players.

Klopp has created a squad which everyone is a part of and players who we might call fringe players, he’ll say are integral members of the whole set-up. It’s all about language but it’s important that youngsters such as Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Adam Lewis and Rhian Brewster are seen as valued more than just youthful add-ons.

And Klopp won’t say that playing them is a gamble because he believes in them.

I think it will be an incredibly difficult game for Liverpool because Everton are a very different animal to the one who played at Anfield in the league last month, producing the worst derby performance I have ever seen.

That, of course, was the last rites of Marco Silva’s reign, Duncan Ferguson came in and started pointing fingers as he was entitled to do and now Carlo Ancelotti has inherited a dressing room which is in a much healthier state.

I always thought this current Everton side doesn’t need much improving but Ancelotti is definitely someone who will get them heading in the right direction.

David Moyes may not be the long-term option

David Moyes will be delighted to be back in the Premier League with West Ham but I’m not sure it’s a brilliant fit.

I can see why the West Ham owners would want David because they know what they are getting. He’s meticulous in his approach, he knows the league and it looks like the players needed something different.

But I’m left asking myself what’s he doing differently now that he wasn’t doing when they got rid of him last time. Has that much changed?

As an appointment it’s quite a retrograde one.

Clubs are generally looking beyond the Allardyces and Pardews of this world and either going abroad or trying younger coaches. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are perfect examples of clubs making brave appointments with an eye on the future.

That’s not to say someone like Sam Allardyce couldn’t do a job somewhere but the tide has definitely turned because fans were getting sick of the merry-go-round.

But given what we know about Moyes’ character and what fans at West Ham demand of their side, I’m not sure that long-term it’s the right way for them to go.

Jadon Sancho would be the right fit for Reds

I doubt Jurgen Klopp feels under any pressure to make any more moves in the transfer window though if there’s one player I’d love to see him bring to Anfield, it’s Jadon Sancho.

Sancho looks like a Jurgen Klopp type of player. He’s young, immensely talented, looks ideally suited to the system which Klopp plays and would be learning off one of the top coaches in the world.

Good managers take good players to the next level. Look at Raheem Sterling at Manchester City. Sterling might not have naturally brought into Pep Guardiola’s unique philosophy but he has and the upshot is that this once erratic talent is now one of the finest players in the Premier League.

Klopp has a similar aura and Trent Alexander-Arnold is a classic example of a player who has flourished under the German where he may very well not have done under someone else.

Sancho at Liverpool would be brilliant for him and the club. He could play anywhere along that front three and looks a genuinely class act.

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