Liverpool have made it through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, and that is ultimately what matters to Andoni Iraola. Yet their penalty shootout victory over Chelsea also left the Liverpool head coach with a familiar problem: how to keep his squad fresh without sacrificing the control and fluency required to win consistently.

The 1-1 draw was followed by a 6-5 victory from the spot, with Giorgi Mamardashvili saving Emmanuel Emegha’s penalty before Wesley Fofana missed the decisive kick. Liverpool survived, but they had spent long stretches of the evening struggling to impose themselves on a Chelsea side that had arrived at Anfield looking to recover from defeat by Tottenham.

Iraola made seven changes from the team that beat Brighton at the weekend. With Liverpool facing another demanding fixture against Arsenal on Sunday, there was a clear rationale for rotating. The Carabao Cup also offered valuable minutes to younger players who are still trying to establish themselves in the senior side.

The difficulty was that Liverpool rarely looked comfortable for long enough to make the changes feel straightforward. Their first-half performance lacked urgency, and they struggled to turn possession into meaningful attacking opportunities. Chelsea were hardly convincing themselves, but Liverpool’s inability to take control meant the visitors remained in the contest.

Iraola was not apologetic about his selection. He explained afterwards that the team was chosen to achieve a balance, rather than to plan specifically for a potential penalty shootout. Liverpool had made seven changes because the schedule required it, and the head coach pointed out that even in the Champions League his side had been rotating regularly.

That is a reasonable position. A team competing across multiple competitions cannot expect the same players to start every match, particularly when the fixtures arrive every few days. Young players need opportunities, and established members of the squad need rest if Liverpool are to maintain their intensity over the season.

But rotation is not simply a question of replacing one player with another. It changes the relationships across the team, the experience available in key areas and the ability to control the tempo when a match becomes difficult.

Liverpool’s midfield struggled to establish a consistent rhythm, while their attacking play was too predictable for much of the opening half. They were not helped by conceding a penalty when Ryan Gravenberch brought down Moisés Caicedo, although Cody Gakpo’s equaliser from the spot ensured that the damage was quickly repaired.

The bigger concern was how little Liverpool had created before the two penalties changed the mood of the game. Their response to falling behind was encouraging, but it did not lead to sustained dominance after the interval.

The introductions of Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola gave Liverpool a greater attacking threat. Barcola supplied the cross that led to a good headed opportunity for Ronald Araújo, then tested Mike Penders himself with a powerful effort from the edge of the penalty area.

Liverpool looked more capable of breaking through Chelsea’s defensive structure, but the improvement was not enough to secure a winner. Chelsea continued to threaten on the counter, and Mamardashvili was required to make an excellent late save to deny Marco Palestra.

That was the tension at the heart of the performance. Liverpool possessed the quality to improve the side from the bench, yet even after introducing senior players they could not consistently control the game. The shootout eventually settled the tie, but it should not disguise the problems that preceded it.

There were positives, particularly the experience gained by the younger players. Trey Nyoni was composed in midfield, while Rio Ngumoha offered flashes of directness. A cup tie against strong opposition is precisely the sort of occasion from which emerging players can learn, especially when the stakes rise late in the game.

Iraola was right to emphasise the importance of progression. Knockout football offers no reward for playing well and going out. Liverpool are in the quarter-finals, and their players will have gained something from a contest that became increasingly tense.

The next step is to ensure that rotation does not leave the team short of the balance needed to compete.

Liverpool now turn their attention to Arsenal, with Sunday’s Premier League meeting demanding a different level of control. The challenge is not to abandon rotation, but to find the right combination of freshness, experience and cohesion.

The Chelsea tie does not mean Iraola made the wrong decision by changing his side. Nor should a shootout victory be treated as evidence that the performance was entirely satisfactory. Both conclusions would be too simplistic.

Instead, the game illustrated the trade-off facing a head coach managing a congested schedule. Liverpool have enough depth to make changes, but depth only becomes an advantage when the players coming in can preserve the team’s structure and standards.

Mamardashvili’s penalty save and Liverpool’s composure at the decisive moment ensured that a difficult evening ended in progress rather than elimination. The quarter-final draw has paired them with Bournemouth at Anfield, giving Iraola a reunion with his former club and another opportunity to move closer to silverware.

For now, the result is a positive one. The performance, however, is a reminder that Liverpool’s ambitions will require more than simply getting through the next round. They must find a way to rotate without losing their grip on games — starting with the challenge that awaits on Sunday.