THE REST IS YET TO COME
Klopp: Being out of Europe will give us a great advantage.. we won’t have a tough turnaround like our rivals
A QUICK-FIRE summer turnaround could give Liverpool a huge advantage in next season’s title race.
That is the verdict of Kop boss Jurgen Klopp, who has revealed he will give his players a break between campaigns even if clubs are still in the dark over how long they will get before fixtures resume.
Klopp admitted that planning at this stage is proving a massive headache because clubs in European tournaments could still be competing at the end of August. Manchester City, Manchester United, Wolves and Chelsea are all involved and, with fixtures possibly resuming in early September, the Reds boss indicated that could be “really tough” for those teams if they reach the latter stages.
“The players will have a short break, we will hopefully then have a short pre-season depending on when we start, and that is pretty much the same for all the teams apart from those still in Europe,” Klopp said.
“I don’t know how they will solve that. If City go through to the Champions League final, that’s at the end of August so that is really, really tough. United, Chelsea and Wolves are all still in Europe and it would be really tough for them.” Liverpool’s exit from the
Champions League just before a complete football lockdown may prove a blessing in disguise for Klopp. It means his hardworking players (in training, below) will be given a crucial few weeks to rest and prepare for next season, even if they do not know how long that break will be. With the UK government relaxing two-week quarantine rules for professional sportspeople, it means they will even be able to go on holiday. But Klopp admitted it will still present massive logistical problems. “We have to plan pre-season but we still have to wait for the moment when someone tells us the starting date,” he said. “I think we can deal with it because we cannot start before the other teams have finished so it will probably be September before we can start again.
“This period we will use for break and pre-season.”
Clubs face a big financial hit in the summer because lucrative pre-season games abroad look certain to be ruled out by the coronavirus crisis.
But as he prepared his side to face Brighton, Klopp said there is no point in using Liverpool’s five remaining games as preparation for next season: “It makes no sense as a preparation for next season because everything will be different,” he said.
“We have only two days between games, and that is right on the edge for players.”