So if Lucas had started and we had still lost to a more superior Liverpool team, one that has lost one league game all season, one that boasts world record transfers, that boasts a golden boot winner, a player of the year and a goalkeeper who won the golden glove with the 2nd highest clean sheets ever achieved by a GK in Premier League era would that also have been seen as the wrong decision not to play Harry?
Both managers dropped their match winners from the semi finals, both went with their bigger asset up front. The lesser team lost, that doesn't mean our manager who has done so much should come under scrutiny. It's a fickle old world but I expect more to see the bigger picture. Lucas still had half hour to make something happen and it wasn't to be,
1. Klopp's decision to start Firmino is completely irrelevant when considering whether or not it was a good decision to start Kane. Much like the fact that the US chose a baffoon for president doesn't make it ok that the UK voted to leave the EU. Two wrongs do not make a right.
2. Klopp's decision isn't the same as Poch's. Firmino hadn't been out for as long as Kane, hadn't suffered the same injury, and quite possibly don't have the same history of always being a slow starter after injuries and breaks.
3. Whether or not Klopp is criticised for his decision, partly or fully due to the circumstances, does not alter the quality of his decision. Which - in retrospect/hindsight seems bad (I need hindsight for that one, because I do not know Firmino and his injury and comeback history as well as I do that of Kane).
4. The fact that we were underdogs and quite possibly would have lost even if we had started e. g. Moura for Kane does not mean that the decisions made by Pochettino had no impact and that they can not be criticised.
5. Some have probably voiced criticism towards Klopps decision to start Firmino.
6. Being critical of single decisions must be allowed and accepted. I am a huge fan of Poch and have previously said that I would find it such a huge blow if we lost him that I might lose interest in football for a while. He is a brilliant guy in so many ways. However, as all others he is not without faults. One of his faults is his tendency to pick his favourites no matter the circumstances - unless he rests the for bigger occasions. That tendency had him choose Kane. That choice was bad, given Kane's history (NOT given the result!).
7. I do not judge the quality of a decision based on the result of the decision. The result, in most situations, and in particular in football, is highly effected by random events. The quality of a decision can only be judged based on the information at hand at the time of the decision. Of course, I do not have all the information Poch had, but from what I know of what he should have known, I can only conclude the decision was bad.