[ad_1]
Fatigue can often lead to irritability, so the theory goes.
And after overseeing his seventh game in 22 days at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp was feeling a little ecstatic on Sunday night.
The sight of Trent Alexander-Arnold being forced off the pitch over a calf problem had clouded the Reds manager’s mood, despite what was widely viewed as a positive 1-1 draw at Manchester City.
The international break may have come at an opportune time in regards to this injury, but once again Klopp was forced to face another layoff for one of his key men.
The past three weeks have seen Liverpool rocked by problems for Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho, the trio joining Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the injured list.
Alisson Becker, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez have all been sidelined at one point or another this season.
Liverpool may well apply for a building permit for a treatment room extension at their new Kirkby training base at this rate.
Klopp, unsurprisingly, was not amused by the latest incident.
“Everything has changed, apart from the fixture list,” he said in a passionate plea for the Premier League to review this condensed season’s schedule.
“Usually in the season we all have an October, a November and then a very, very delicate December.
“This year, October is like December, November is like December and December is always like December.
“People may like it and think it’s a real competition giving other teams a chance, the only problem is we hurt the players.
“We have to talk about the five submarines again. If 14 teams say it can’t happen, then let’s do five submarines when the first six clash.”
For those who don’t follow Liverpool, it might have been easy to allay Klopp’s concerns.
Tribalism rarely opens the door to reasoned debate, but the powerful complaints seem to have settled a little on this occasion.
Fears are growing and not just from Anfield as Pep Guardiola has expressed his own grievances on the same subject after the match.
“It’s so demanding on the players so I don’t understand how the Premier League or who is in charge of deciding this sort of thing,” Guardiola said moments after Klopp’s thoughts were made public at the ‘Etihad.
“I don’t understand how the situation is completely different all over the world in all the other leagues.
“All other leagues in the world except this league [is now five], maybe because he likes to be different. “
Klopp and Guardiola acted as cavalry for Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who used post-match media relations following Saturday’s win at Everton as a platform for his own heavy criticism.
Get all the latest updates on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury, plus the latest news and reaction to the draw with Man City.
You’ll also receive the latest transfer discussions and analysis straight to your inbox every day through our FREE email newsletter.
Sign up here – it only takes a few seconds!
The United boss said: “The authorities defeated us. How can I prepare for a Champions League match on Wednesday night in Turkey and prepare for a kick-off on Saturday at 12:30 pm?
“You have Liverpool and City, yeah fair play, they play against each other. They played Tuesday, they play Sunday. Who’s in charge? We’ve had enough. I’ve had enough.
“You have to understand how these players in these times, pandemic, how mentally exhausting it is, how physically exhausting it is and they’re putting them in place like that.
“We lost Luke Shaw because of this.”
From Liverpool’s perspective, Klopp isn’t quite correct in his October and November point playing out like the hectic December period.
Last year, between October 1 and November 30, the Reds played 12 times, while the same period in 2020 sees them play a dozen matches again.
It is hardly questionable, however, that the matches have gone quickly this season. One every three days, in fact.
What is typically a three-month Champions League group stage is already halfway after two weeks, while the entire season is crammed into eight months, as opposed to the traditional nine between August and May.
The lack of real time outside of the game between late July and mid-September also contributed to the wave of injuries, it is argued.
Guardiola recently made this case, saying: “This is not just one club, there are 47 percent more muscle injuries than the previous season.”
The solution, if the game’s governing bodies believe that one needs to be found, will not be easy to root out.
Elite players – for whom much of Klopp and Guardiola’s concerns lie – are fighting on all fronts, which means they are involved in a huge number of football matches.
But perhaps the wisdom of international friendlies during this particular period in football history is reckless, even if it hinders national coaches and their willingness to try new ideas.
Is such an ideal worth preserving at a time when the brightest lights in the game are dimmed by an alarming rate of injury?
Klopp is right when he says that this problem “does not concern Man Utd, Liverpool or City” – but the three most unlikely bed-mates might just be able to make some form of change if they continue to fight hard on the same drum in unison. .
[ad_2]
Source link