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(Reuters) – Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp was once again scratching his head after Premier League clubs voted once again against allowing five substitutes per team in each game, despite the condensed schedule .
The German, who was crowned the best men’s soccer coach by FIFA on Thursday, has openly criticized the league’s reluctance to introduce the measure, which has been widely adopted around the world.
“I don’t want to make headlines, everyone knows my opinion,” Klopp told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
“You have to ask other people about it. There are 10 clubs that voted against and everyone knows who those clubs are. They voted against something that was not about competition, not advantages, just player welfare and they voted in against.
“Practically only they voted against in Europe, even in the world, if I am right.
“There must be a good reason for it. In all these leagues there is competition, all the clubs want to win the league or stay on top. This is the only league, not even the country, as the Championship decided to do, that does not.”
Champion Liverpool ranks first in the Premier League with 28 points despite having won just once away from home this season, a streak that includes a 1-1 draw at Fulham last week.
Klopp, however, said he is not concerned with his team’s form on the road.
“It’s not a big concern, or at least we don’t feel it,” he said.
“We were a bit unlucky in one or two games too, I’d say. It’s a fact that we didn’t win much away from home, but we tried to change that by doing the right things again.
“Put another change, playing the best possible football is the plan both away and at home.”
Klopp, who could miss up to eight first teams through injury for the trip to London, said midfielders Thiago Alcantara, James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri were close to resuming full training but would miss out on Saturday.
(Reporting by Joseph Walker; Editing by Toby Davis)
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