Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he is “really angry” at the potential impact of the World Cup on player welfare – and believes the competition is happening at the “wrong moment for the wrong reasons”.
The finals will be held mid-season for the first time in their 92-year history after they were switched to later this year due to concerns over summer heat in Qatar.
As a consequence, the Premier League – along with many major leagues – will shut down for more than six weeks when the competition takes place in November and December.
READ MORE: Liverpool face fixture chaos with massive pile-up caused by Champions League
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool transfer plan has changed after Ibrahima Konate injury
A number of Liverpool players are expected to be involved in the latter stages, meaning they are unlikely to be afforded much of a rest period before the Premier League resumes.
And Klopp said: “If all the players then have a break it is not a problem, it is good. It is like a winter break which I had that in Germany as a player a lot, four weeks, stuff like that.
“The problem is the players who play the World Cup, that is just not okay but it is decided a long time ago.
“If you go to the final at a World Cup and win it or lose or a third-place match you are already quite busy and the then the rest starts a week later. When I start talking about it, I get really angry.”
Klopp added: “My problem is that as much as everybody knows it’s not right, nobody talks often enough about it that it will be changed. Something has to change. You cannot just constantly watch top-class players and say, ‘Oh my god, how they are great.’
“It is like with the climate. We all know it has to change but nobody is saying what we have to do. Why we wouldn’t talk about it and do it properly and say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, FIFA, Premier League, FA, start talking to each other’.
“There must be one meeting where they all talk to each other and the only subject should be the most important part of this game, the players. It didn’t happen yet because the managers are in the jump seat, in out, in, out, why should we be concerned about the long-term effects?
“But now I am a long time here and some others talk from time to time to about it but all the rest has his own interest so that makes it not easy. This World Cup happens at the wrong moment for the wrong reasons.”
The Premier League season starts this weekend with Liverpool travelling to Fulham on Saturday. It then closes down on November 12 before resuming again on Boxing Day.
The Reds will give their non-World Cup players a short break before travelling to Dubai for a training camp, where they will be joined by those playing in Qatar once they exit the tournament.
And when asked about whether the season could be treated as two sprints rather than a marathon, Klopp said: “The second part is definitely no sprint, that is from 26th of December until May, that is no sprint, until then we will see.
“I understand the question, I just can’t see an answer it is a sprint you have to prepare really different, we didn’t, we prepare like we had to do for 15-16 games. We prepare because I am not smart enough to do it for 16 games.”
READ NEXT:
