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Jurgen Klopp is here to talk facts. Not about another coach, like Rafa Benítez in 2009. But about the Premier League, the ridiculous schedule and the ramifications.
Talk about the fact that Joe Gomez has had knee surgery, the victim of a fiercely intense schedule. Talk about how broadcasters should use their brains and why the PFA is disappointing players in the three-on-five substitution debate.
There are times when Klopp shows his trademark smile as he sits in the club’s new Kirkby training facility. But November has not been kind to the Liverpool manager. On the 11th the news reached him of Gomez’s injury. On the 13th, Mohamed Salah’s positive coronavirus test arrived. On the 15th, Jordan Henderson was forced to retire at halftime for England against Belgium.
Klopp now has a few things he’d like to get off his chest, and he sat down with Sportsmail’s Jamie Redknapp to do it. Sportsmail’s Kieran Gill listened.
JURGEN KLOPP: I’m not a huge fan of international breaks. You could ask my lady how I look. It’s a really nervous moment. For us, it was not a successful breakup. We lost players.
JAMIE REDKNAPP: I was heartbroken for Gomez with his knee injury. I know very well the pain you feel. What’s it like to be a manager and get that phone call?
KLOPP: My English is not good enough to describe exactly what went through my mind. My physical therapist told me and everyone was sure it was serious right away. No doubts. There’s no hope it’s just a little girl Injuries are part of the deal for players and coaches. How they happen is something that constantly worries us.
With the Virgil van Dijk situation, it wasn’t because of the intensity of the game. It was because of a very strange decision by one person (Jordan Pickford) that made it difficult to deal with. With Joey, it was absolutely because of the intensity of the season. That is something we have to worry about. That is no excuse. That is just an explanation.
REDKNAPP: What would be your solution? Five substitutions?
KLOPP: We fight hard for a winter break in the normal season. One week after the most intense period of the season. A week where you don’t have to think about football, you don’t have to train, you don’t have to get up in the morning and think, ‘How am I going to play tonight?’ We fought so hard for one less week.
But this is not a normal season now. This is now a four week shorter season but with the same number of games. This is a very special moment, not only for football but for the whole world. We all have to push ourselves and fight hard to get over it. In football, it is like that. The whole world seems to have changed, but the two things that stuck were the Premier League match list and three substitutes.
These are the two things we have to talk about. We have to talk to the stations. People need to understand soccer players. People say, ‘Oh, but they earn so much.’ It’s not about that. They earn so much because they are so special. There are actors who are brilliant but who will never be James Bond. But like James Bond, you earn more than others. The same thing happens with football. Many people play soccer and the best win more. But that doesn’t make them more robust for everything in life. On Wednesday we had a meeting between all the managers and it was very important.
REDKNAPP: Did it go well?
KLOPP: Yes. Before the season, some people thought it would be an advantage for us, the people who said we should stick to five substitutions. But it never was, and I can promise you this, I’m a Christian, it wasn’t for a second to have an advantage. All other countries did. Italy: Juventus, Inter Milan, they have the biggest squads, but the other clubs said: “We need five substitutes.”
Yesterday, six managers changed their minds. We need it. For the players, not for the clubs. December and January in a normal season is brutal. We know. But this year, for Champions League and Europa League clubs, October is like December. November is like December. December is still December, then January, then February.
We all agree that we want to play 100%. But they are small adjustments. We have to vote this afternoon, practically. Let’s all get together and vote. We need the announcers to meet at the table. Sky, BT, whoever, they need to talk to us.
Whatever happens before, the contracts that were signed before, were signed for a non-Covid period. Wednesday night and Saturday at 12.30 pm, this should not be possible.
Sports science says you need at least 72 hours to recover. We play before breakfast when the mind returns from whatever country in the world we are in.
REDKNAPP: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke about the Manchester United schedule. You now agree with him as the opposite manager. A United and Liverpool manager agree!
KLOPP: It’s not about me. This is not about Liverpool. It’s about the well-being of the player. Nothing else. The problem is, if you ask the players, they say, ‘I’m fine!’ Because players, and you were too, always want to play. Always. Until they get injured. They are not the best source.
The PFA shouldn’t ask players, ‘What do you think?’ It’s common sense. The LMA doesn’t have to ask managers what we think because the problem is clear. Make the decision. Five or three? The best solution is five. Do it.
If you have two clubs playing in the Champions League on a Wednesday, then they are not in contention for Saturday at 12.30pm. But it’s, ‘Ah, there is a contract, we need a shareholders’ meeting. Why, for such an easy solution? No. We only have to sit together once and do it.
I don’t have much time, but I would take time for that. We have to be strong.
Come help us. That is all I ask. We have to order it now. Once again, much more important things are happening in the world. Much more important. I know that. But you can’t just ignore the little problems by the bigger ones.
When asked how many teams are in the title race this season, Klopp smiles and says, ‘Eight.’ He has an idea of the serious contenders, with his opponents on Sunday, Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester, surely one of them. Klopp won’t give names, but he welcomes an open race.
KLOPP: That’s absolutely fine, and that won’t change because of five substitutes or because we don’t play at 12.30pm on Saturdays. An open race? I do not have any problem with that.
REDKNAPP: The last three Premier League champions had 100, 98 and 99 points. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like 85 could win it this year.
KLOPP: Sorry to tell you this, but I couldn’t care less right now, Jamie. It doesn’t seem like someone is getting 100 or whatever. In this season? Four weeks less? The same number of games? I don’t think it’s possible. Even 87 seems far away.
REDKNAPP: You are beaten and bruised right now, Jurgen. If you kept the Premier League trophy, how would it compare to last year’s achievement?
KLOPP (laughing): If we won it this year, it would be a great achievement to be honest. Maybe a bigger one. That’s what I love about the Premier League – there are so many contenders. Our start was not so bad. Yes, we had a special match against Aston Villa (the 7-2 loss). Maybe we needed it. We have used it. Leicester on Sunday. Let’s see.
REDKNAPP: How difficult is it to work on tactics with your team now, Jurgen? Do you even have time to do that? In Manchester City you used a 4-2-4.
KLOPP: In possession. Definitely not when he’s out of possession. Oh my God. How long have I been a manager? Twenty years? At first, as Mainz coach, that was real training. That was Sunday’s game, recovery Monday, Tuesday off, then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday training, and Sunday you play again. You could work on everything.
That is completely different now. We played on three of those training days. That’s why I was so happy with the game against City. Doing it is complicated. By doing it before facing City, you need a team that listens, and they listened. You need a team that trusts you and they obviously do. That was good.
Goodbye Melwood, hello Kirkby. Liverpool moved into their new home this week. Its £ 50 million base even comes equipped with a fully sanded beach volleyball court, while the door to the first team suite is named after James Milner. Klopp likes the way it allows him, and his team, to interact with the future stars of Liverpool Football Club.
KLOPP: It is very exciting. Yesterday we had three power outages at the training and managers meeting. You know what it is like when something is new. But it is outstanding. I haven’t thought about being a player since I became a coach, but this is the first time I’ve thought, ‘Oh, that would have been nice, changing in that locker room, swimming in that pool.’ We didn’t have a pool when I was a player, we had a bathroom that was 50 years old.
REDKNAPP: Was moving mid-season a difficult decision?
KLOPP: There was no chance it would be finished in the summer and we didn’t want to wait until next summer. It fits naturally after two days. When he sees the pitches for the first time, he gets down on his knees. You could stay there for a while because the quality is amazing. I already told the outfielders: ‘That’s the level we will judge them at from now on.
Nothing here in Kirkby will be the reason for not being successful in the future. Youth teams can watch our training sessions. That’s not a problem. And it also works the other way around. Our guys are interested in the whole club, like Milly, like Hendo. They want to stay here forever. Whatever job they have in the future, be it coach or manager, they are interested. They go and watch the youth sessions. That gives those kids a huge boost when they see a first team player next to the field. I am so happy that my team has never forgotten where they came from.
REDKNAPP: Jurgen, this could be an embarrassing question, for me and you.
KLOPP: Ha ha! I’m excited.
REDKNAPP: What makes you an excellent manager?
KLOPP (pause): Because I’ve managed to get some really good people together. I like to listen. I like to be interested. I’m good enough to later let them grow. That doesn’t make me a great coach, but it did make me the coach I am today. That is the way. That is the only way I understand it.
I’m good at some things, but at all others, the men and women who work with me are so much better and I’m smart enough to take their advice.
REDKNAPP: It is the environment that creates what seems special to me.
KLOPP: Honestly, it doesn’t feel that difficult. I couldn’t write a book on how it works, but it’s common sense. Respect the people you work with, support them as much as you can. So you get the benefit of that. Be a good person. Why should you act like an idiot?
Three clubs in my life: Mainz, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool. The Mainz players may not have been that famous, but they were an incredible group. I wasn’t the reason, but I didn’t bother him. In Dortmund, the boys flew. It wasn’t my fault. Perhaps the time was right.
And here in Liverpool, how could I make Hendo, Milly, Van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Bobby Firmino, all my guys, better people? I can not do this. I let them be good people … and I kick their ass when they don’t run enough.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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