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Gary Neville says Jurgen Klopp is only looking for an “advantage” with his complaints about the match list.
The former Manchester United defender spoke extensively on Monday Night Football in Sky sports about Klopp and his complaints about Saturday’s lunchtime games.
“I don’t think Jurgen Klopp is right about fatigue, during the preseason or in the start games on Saturday.
“My take is that when you become a winning coach, and this is where Sir Alex came in and why he was called a whiner for many years, the best coaches just want to win.
“The biggest risk for Klopp to win the league again this season is another major injury or two. So you want to try to get that edge to put something psychological on people’s minds. Sir Alex Ferguson did it for 15 or 16 years. “
Klopp needs to open his eyes and stop taking ass
“Klopp has been the best coach in interviews for the last few years, he has been the best coach on the field, he is connected with the fans better than anyone, his football style is fantastic, but on Saturday it was done in an interview, and that is very rare.
“He did not understand his story well, he has no evidence to support him in the games played or in the slots on Saturday. He just lost this one in particular after being brilliant in all the other interviews he’s done.
“He’s trying to get a head start to get results, that’s all.
“I played for a coach at Sir Alex Ferguson, and there are hundreds of these quotes.”
“Every season I wanted that advantage. He wanted to have the ability to recover more, to play at different times, so it suited Manchester United, and that’s what Klopp wants now.
“What Klopp has done at Liverpool in the last three years is incredible, but his team this season is weakening a bit from the fact that they have had those three years.
“There may be an element of Covid and sports science, but the downtime has been there. The games are not thicker and faster than in any other season. Saturday’s starts are not thicker and faster than in any other season, so the exceptional points Klopp is making have not happened.
“I don’t think it is an exceptional season.
“It is exceptional that the players have rested more than ever.
“They had three months off from March to June, then they played nine games, where Klopp played all of his best players even when they had won the league, and then they had five weeks off until the Community Shield.
“In any season that I played in a World Cup or a European Championship, I only had three or four weeks anyway. There is more rest this year than in any other year in football history. I do not understand the idea that it is a unique season. The fans are not in the stadiums, there is no feeling for the players.
“I have reviewed the history of the games around 12pm in 2002, when this match turned into something where the Premier League decided they were going to try to attack the Asian market. It has been a great success for the Premier League, and the richness of the Premier League is due to this ability to play matches at 12pm on Saturday and early Sunday.
“That’s almost a third of the season they played in 2002/03, a season that I played, we were playing at 11 am, 11:30 am, 12 pm, we played so many games in that space. Liverpool itself in 2006/07, Tottenham, Arsenal – this is not a new problem.
“What Klopp is talking about is an 18-year-old problem. Liverpool this season have played two games in that slot, the maximum they can play this season is six. That is the maximum number of times it can be in that space.
“I don’t think Klopp has what I think is a major complaint for being at a disadvantage against other teams that play in that position in any other season. If you are successful and you are Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, they want to see you in Asia and foreign broadcasters will pay for that. It has been the same for 18 years.
“So I started to think about the volume of games Liverpool have played, and thinking that they have played many games in recent years, they have been successful in the Champions League, they have gone all the way with City in the league. If you look at the days per game, again through history, at this point they are played every 5.4 days.
“If you look again at the most successful teams that have had European campaigns, be it Europe or the Champions League, since Manchester United in 1998/99, again Liverpool are not at a disadvantage. Liverpool’s players this season, with larger squads, are asked to play a game every 5.4 days.
“The most Liverpool can play this season, if they go all the way in all competitions, is every 4.5 days.”
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