AA’S CLEAR BREAKDOWN WARNING
Fixture pile- up’s inhuman says Trent
TRENT ALEXANDER- ARNOLD has revealed how he believes the demands on players are “not physically possible”.
In normal circumstances, he would be slotting into the Liverpool back four as the champions face Brighton.
Instead, he is out with a calf injury, while team- mates Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez ( inset) are also missing with long- term knee injuries.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has sounded off about the number of games, not having five substitutes in the Premier League and TV times putting players at risk.
And England star AlexanderArnold, 22, paints a worrying picture for players as he warns that ultimately the Premier League will suffer.
The right- back said: “We have to give a thought to our bodies.
“It’s not right to put a human body through so much intensity.
“Marathon runners, triathletes and Tour de
France cyclists train for so long to compete in such quick succession.
“You have to train for those sort of distances – and our bodies aren’t trained to do that. We have 90- minute hits, we have to recover from that.
“But when you’re asked to do that so quickly, it’s not fair and the human body cannot cope with that.” Liverpool go to the Amex Stadium at lunchtime today, an early kick- off which Klopp is not happy about having had an 8pm Champions League match on Wednesday.
And next month, just three days after facing title rivals Spurs at home, Liverpool have another lunchtime Saturday start away to Crystal Palace. Alexander- Arnold said: “In the three- month lockdown we had to try and stay as fit as possible. “We were doing four or five sessions a week, not knowing when we were going to come back.
“We had to stay relatively match- fit in case it came back on quickly. Going straight back into games, it hurt a lot of players without much of a build- up.”
Last season’s Premier League ended on July 26 but by August 29 Liverpool were back at Wembley facing Arsenal in the Community Shield.
Alexander- Arnold limped off with his calf injury three weeks ago at Manchester City.
Van Dijk suffered a cruciate ligament injury at Everton after Jordan Pickford’s X- rated challenge, while Gomez’s knee injury happened with no player near him during England training.
Alexander- Arnold is convinced that even serious knee or impact injuries may ultimately be as a result of the knock- on effect of bad preparation.
He added: “I think it’s proven by now that the main source of knee, ankle and joint injuries is from fatigue. It’s because you are tired and when you land, you are not really putting your leg in the right position, you don’t have the energy to absorb the jump or the landing.
“I think I had maybe three or four training sessions before I played 80 minutes and, from there, I was straight into the season.”
Alexander- Arnold works hard at his fitness and has become an ambassador for sports nutrition brand Kinetica.
“A lot of people think you just turn up and play but it’s 24/ 7. I’m always questioning everything,” he said.
“What I eat, how many hours of sleep I need, I have to question whether it’s going to be beneficial or hinder me.
“If it’s going to hinder me, then I have to say no.
“The fitness levels we need as a team need to be up there with the highest in the league, if not the highest in Europe as well.”