Sun rising to top in Bale battle
JURGEN KLOPP fears player burn-out could wreck the game if schedules are not changed.
The Liverpool boss is concerned about the lack of time off his players have had this summer.
Their season didn’t end until June 1, the night they beat Spurs in the Champions League final in Madrid. Liverpool then had Jordan Henderson, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Gini Wijnaldum and Xherdan Shaqiri involved in the finals of the Nations League – a competition Klopp despises.
Other top first-team stars featured in Euro 2020 qualifiers in June, while Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita headed off for the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Roberto Firmino and Alisson went all the way in the Copa America with Brazil.
Salah, Firmino and Alisson will return to first-team training next week while Mane is not back until after the Community Shield as Senegal played in the Africa Cup of Nations final at the weekend, when they lost to Algeria. And Klopp is worried what effect such a packed summer programme will have on his players – now and in the future.
He said: “We sit here and it sounds like I am having a moan or whatever. But in the long term it is not acceptable.
“It’s not like after three days you can say to them ‘Hey! Come on! Let’s start running again!’ They have had a tough summer programme.
“You lose a little bit of rhythm. It will all come back but it will be a tough start. In the future, we have to change that. We have to change it. It is not possible (to continue).”
Klopp is also angry that the Premier League starts a week earlier than other domestic leagues. In fact Liverpool play their opener - at home to Norwich - two weeks on Friday.
His side have been going through gruelling preparations in the US this week so they can hit the ground running in the Premier League. But they have struggled in games – losing to both Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla in stifling temperatures during a heatwave.
They have six competitions this season so it is set to be another demanding campaign for the side that collected 97 points in the Premier League last season yet still didn’t win it.
Klopp added: “The Premier League starts the earliest. Huh? Where is the space for training?
“It looks like nobody can imagine a week without football. When did that happen? It is difficult for the boys. Everything will be fine this season. But in the long term? We have to change it.
“There must be breaks. The pressure is everywhere. We need to calm this down. We need proper breaks, then you will get worldclass performances.
“Then you can enjoy these boys in the long term and it will be easier for the younger ones to come through.” GARETH BALE has had two offers from China as clubs scramble for his signature.
Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan have already made an approach and are willing to pay Bale £1million a week.
But, incredibly, Jiangsu Suning are also interested in signing Bale and reports in China are suggesting they are now in pole position to complete a deal.
Real Madrid star Bale is being ruthlessly frozen out by Zinedine Zidane, who did not include the 30-year-old in a match day squad to face Bayern Munich on their US tour and admitted “it would be better” if he leaves.
Bale is on £650,000 a week at Madrid, has three years left on his contract and has also had interest from Bayern Munich.
There has even been talk of a swap deal involving Neymar that would see Bale head to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Wales forward has won four Champions League titles in six years at Real but his strained relationship with Zidane means they are desperate to offload him.
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett has called Zidane a “disgrace” for his treatment of the player but also insisted he could stay at Madrid.