BEN READY TORUMBLE
ENGLAND were handed a Christmas boost after their chaotic and disrupted preparations for today’s first Test when Ben Stokes trained and declared himself ready to face South Africa. The whole England camp had been shocked and saddened when Stokes’ father Ged was taken ill on Christmas Eve and was said to be in a serious condition in a Johannesburg hospital. But Stokes senior, who had only just arrived in South Africa from his home in
achieve that. You know they’re a very resilient team. They have shown (even) if they’re not playing at their best they still get the results somehow. That’s always the mark of a team with a winning mentality. ‘You have to look at them and Manchester City as two of the top teams you’ll have seen at this level. We were part of the process at Liverpool when we were there (Rodgers was manager from 2012-15) and for the next couple of years Jurgen continued to build on that. Then the owners put in investment that brings
it to the next level in terms of wingers, goalkeepers, centre-half ... a great opportunity to consistently play at the highest level.’ Liverpool return to domestic action as FIFA’s Club World Cup winners, having beaten the Brazilians of Flamengo in Qatar last Saturday. Klopp, meanwhile, has described the Premier League’s holiday schedule as a ‘crime’ — even though he admits he has benefited from the Christmas fixture list. Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola has been openly critical of a programme that gives Liverpool an extra 24 hours’ rest between today’s trip to Leicester and Sunday’s home clash with Wolves. The defending champions are forced to play on Friday and Sunday. Klopp said: ‘None of the managers have a problem playing on Boxing Day, but playing on the 26th and then 28th, this is a crime. It’s absolutely not OK but we still have it. This year we play 26th and 29th and it is like a holiday. I understand all those saying it should not happen. Sports science gives you nothing to deal with this. The body needs a specific amount of time to go again. That is science. But we ignore it.’