Jurgen Klopp has slammed the decision to keep Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley as "one of the most ridiculous stories" he has ever heard.
The Football Association came under strong pressure during the international break to change the venue of the clash with City after it was confirmed there would be no trains running from the North West to London across the Easter weekend due to engineering works.
It means supporters from both regions are set for a logistical nightmare when it comes to making the 400-mile round trip to the capital and back for the game on Saturday April 16.
Supporters' groups from both clubs criticised the decision before the respective mayors of the Liverpool and Manchester areas combined to release a joint statement demanding a change of stadium to relieve the pressure on thousands of fans.
Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and his Manchester counterpart, Andy Burnham, both called for the match to be moved away from Wembley before Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary, Lucy Powell, wrote to the FA chair Debbie Hewitt.
And Klopp has now criticised the decision himself, saying it makes "absolutely no sense" for supporters to be asked to trek across the country without the help of rail services on a Bank Holiday weekend.
"It is one of the most ridiculous stories I have ever heard," Klopp said. "I heard that they knew about the works for 18 months and I'm not sure what the FA thought; that no club from the north west could be part of the semi-finals?
"I really can't believe that things like this can happen with all of the information you have out there. I heard now that the FA or whoever are putting some coaches on the road. What is it, usually four-and-a-half-hours to London?
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"It will probably then be 12 with both sets of supporters coming from the same direction. It makes absolutely no sense. Great decision."
Last week, the ECHO learned the FA were made aware of the potential travel chaos for football fans as far back as 2019. Rail industry sources said the FA were first alerted to the planned work back in November 2019 before the governing body received a written request in September last year to consider changing the venue of the game.
Liverpool had tried to get the game moved after high-level talks with the FA following their quarter-final win over Nottingham Forest last month and the governing body's compromise of putting on 100 free buses from Anfield and the Etihad to Wembley on the day of the game has been viewed, in parts, as an inadequate one.
Klopp added: "I'm not sure when they had to decide when the semi-finals would be but I think there is another weekend between the Champions League games [they could have chosen].
"It would have been our City game. That would have been funny, moving the City game for a City game, but at least on that weekend all fans could have gone to Wembley without making it more difficult for them.
"How I know it, our people, they will find a way, but I'm just not happy that somebody made it so complicated. It should be easier to see your football team in a semi-final than the way they have chosen."
