Klopp: Fixture pile-up is running my players into the ground
Liverpool manager says schedule must change Horror tackle on Larouci was a disgrace – Milner
Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, fears the “unacceptable” fixture schedule will take its toll on his international stars as he looks to navigate his club through seven competitions this season.
Klopp has long considered the gruelling calendar a farce, and with Liverpool participating in the Fifa Club World Cup in Qatar in December, there is potential for mid-season chaos. Premier League and potential domestic cup ties will have to be rearranged.
Liverpool have sought clarification from Fifa on the dates and format of the Qatar tournament. The European champions want to know whether senior players are obliged to be part of their squad.
Klopp is a long-term advocate of reducing the workload of the world’s top players – not only those at Anfield – but instead he sees the demands increasing.
“We sit here and it sounds like I am having a moan or whatever. It is just that the situation, in the long term, is not acceptable,” Klopp said.
“It looks like nobody can imagine a week without football in the year. 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. Be brave. Don’t treat every game like it is the last of a decade.”
Klopp says he is especially concerned about the workload of Sadio Mane, who he confirmed will not be available for the Community Shield against Manchester City a week on Sunday as he returns to pre-season training last of all, a week before the start of the Premier League, when Liverpool will play Norwich City on Aug 9.
“Sadio Mane’s season, after he played the [Africa Cup of Nations] final, will be 13 months. A 13-month season, that is how it is,” Klopp said. “Ask him how much holiday he has had. He’s played pretty much every game for Senegal. He’s played each game for us. Every international break, he is away. Ask him.
“The pressure is everywhere. We need to calm this down. We need proper breaks, then you will get world-class performances. Then you can enjoy these boys in the long term and it will be easier for the younger ones to come through.
“We have to win pretty much every game. So where is the space for development? We have to make sure there is enough space for the boys to recover and then go again. Like it was in the good old times.
“For here [in pre-season] it is not a problem. We have all the boys here, apart from the three up front and Ali [Alisson Becker]. They need a holiday. 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. It will be a tough start. For the other teams as well – Tottenham have had it pretty much like we have. In the future, we have to change that. We have to.”
After criticising the format of the Uefa Nations League, Klopp felt his concerns were vindicated by the poor quality of the competition, held within days of the Champions League final.
“I said about the Nations League, I don’t like it. People looked at me and said, ‘Huh?’ – each national coach around the world said, ‘No, I love it. It’s brilliant and we go for something’.
“So now we have the World Cup, the European Championship and the Nations League. Four days after the Champions League final, the boys are there. The Dutch guys, Shaq [Xherdan Shaqiri], the English boys. If they had been friendly games, the boys would not have been there at all. But no, it’s the Nations League, so they have to go.
“There is always an important competition. The next important competition. Then England and the Premier League starts the earliest? Where is the space for training?”
Liverpool’s start to the campaign is hectic, with the Super Cup final against Chelsea in Istanbul on Aug 14. Both clubs agree it makes no sense for two English sides to fly to Turkey for a glorified exhibition match when both would willingly play nearer home.
“The Premier League begins a week earlier than all the other leagues – so, OK, we have to deal with that,” Klopp said. “We will see. We fly to Istanbul after we play Norwich. Then we go to Southampton directly straight after.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool hope youngster Yasser Larouci is not seriously injured following the tackle branded “a disgrace” in the pre-season friendly against Sevilla on Sunday. Joris Gnagnon was sent off, later issuing an apology as he acknowledged his “odious act” in his side’s 2-1 victory in Boston.
James Milner led the condemnation. “There were some disgraceful tackles,” he said. “You don’t see many red cards in a friendly.
“If you want to foul, pull a shirt. Don’t take a young lad by the knee. Seeing it again, it is a disgrace. ”