It seems that one of Jurgen Klopp’s most frequent bugbears is finally being given the attention it deserves by infuential parties other than the Liverpool manager.
The German has spoken out several times this season about the claustrophobic fixture congestion that the Reds have faced, particularly in terms of being given multiple Saturday 12:30 kick-offs immediately after an international window.
Speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, PFA chief executive Maheta Molango cited the example of Manchester City in last year’s Champions League final – the 61st and concluding game of their treble-winning season – as proof that elite footballers now face a top-heavy workload which compromises player welfare and even dilutes the quality of the sport.
Referencing the injury suffered by Kevin De Bruyne in that match against Inter Milan, the 41-year-old said (via Liverpool Echo): “It is surely not what we want to see. The Champions League final is supposed to be our Super Bowl.
“It wasn’t because one of the best players in the world, De Bruyne, was out in the 30th minute. [Erling] Haaland was exhausted; Rodri, who is a top athlete, said after 60 minutes he had cramps. For us, we’ve reached a stage where it is not just about the health of the player, it is about us killing the product.”
Many of Liverpool’s detractors responded to Klopp’s grievances about fixture congestion with accusations of the 56-year-old being bitter and grumpy, but the points made by an independent and prominent figure in Molango illustrate that the German was right to call it out.
The Reds have already played 41 matches this season (the same as Man City) and, should they progress to the finals of the FA Cup and Europa League, will have 22 more between now and 25th May.
If that potential scenario comes to pass, we won’t have a single free midweek outside the international window until the end of the campaign, and even then most of our players will have no break at all as they’ll be representing their countries in late March.
It’s no wonder that Liverpool have had to endure so many injury problems in recent months when the price of success in knockout competitions is an unrelenting fixture schedule with scant regard for player welfare, a situation which’ll be amplified by the imminent expansions of the Champions League and World Cup.
While the flip side has been the window of opportunity given to youngsters like Jayden Danns and Conor Bradley to step up and make a telling impact at first-team level, it doesn’t feel right that it should come at the expense of injuries to senior teammates.
We must surely be reaching the tipping point where elite footballers can’t take any more than what’s already being asked of them by avaricious executives who haven’t a clue about medically recommended recovery periods at the highest level of the sport.
Thank goodness someone of influence is finally listening to the drum that Klopp has been rightly banging for some time.
But you guys were whining when pep said this 2 years ago and said he should shut up and get on with it … more faces than a town hall clock
It’s been wrong for years yet, UEFA introduce a new international tournament, in addition to the European Championship! All the clubs playing in Europe, who get to the latter stages complain about it yet, go on pre season trips, thousands of miles from England, to play for meaningless trophies to earn yet more cash. It needs sorting on both sides of the fence, we can’t complain about too many games and then play 4 or 6 games pre-season, often in two countries hoursapart by plane.