KLOPP HAS A POP
Season hasn’t even started and Liverpool manager is whingeing!
JURGEN KLOPP has hit out at the fixture schedule, asking why his Liverpool side are being made to play Manchester City in the Community Shield tomorrow 63 days after they ended last season.
Klopp’s side lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid in Paris on May 28, and are now gearing up for the curtain-raiser in
Leicester, which is two weeks earlier than usual this year to accommodate the winter World Cup. ‘We had a longer season than others, now we have a shorter pre-season,’ said Klopp. ‘It makes not too much sense.’
JURGEN Klopp believes the Community Shield has been scheduled too early for a liverpool team who didn’t finish last season until the end of May.
Tomorrow’s match against Manchester City at leicester’s King power Stadium signals the start of the new campaign as liverpool try yet again to find a way to overhaul their great modern rivals.
Liverpool manager Klopp (below) has vowed to take the game seriously because he has never won it. But he says that thought should be given to flexibility over the weekend on which it is played, given his team competed omgue in the Champions league final in paris on May 28.
Liverpool reached three finals nals last season and took the race for the premier league title to the he final moments of the season’s s last day.
In total, liverpool played a mammoth 63 games and Klopp said: ‘I like the competition but I think it would be possible to find another date. We had a longer season than other teams and now we have a shorter pre-season.
‘It makes not too much sense. Maybe somebody can think k about this. But we have to findd a way and that’s what we are working on. In two days the season starts again and we are really looking forward to it.
‘It is important as we have played yed this game a couple of times and it would be nice to win it. It’s the last one that we still have to win.’
liverpool will be without goalkeeper Alisson tomorrow but the Brazilian is training and will be fit for liverpool’s first premier league game at Fulham a week later.
Klopp must also manage without Sadio Mane this season after his move to Bayern Munich but said another forward, Roberto Firmino, remains integral to his plans.
Firmino has been linked with other clubs, including Italian giants Juventus, and only has a year left on his Anfield contract.
But Klopp said: ‘Bobby is crucial for us, the heart and soul of this team. The way we played in the last years was only possible because of Bobby.
‘For me, there is no doubt about his quality. All the rest, we will see how it goes. But for me, he is essential for us.’
Klopp has been busy readying his squad for the start of the season but has taken the time to watch the women’s European Championship. His native Germany face hosts England at Wembley in Sunday’s final and Klopp said: ‘I love women’s football. It is outstanding. The quality of the tournament is insane.
‘England are doing exceptionally well, Germany as well. So as much as I love England, in this specific case my heart is with the German side. But with Wembley sold out with an English crowd, it will be a massive challenge for Germany. England are slight favourites but Germany have a chance as well and that’s enough.
‘ Most important is the face women’s football showed. It is a fantastic game. Women’s football has exploded in its development. It is technically and tactically on an incredibly high level. Its intensity is high and it is physically really good and I really love watching it.’