The German Liverpool coach speaks of “greed”, which is carried out on the “back of the players”.
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp has once again criticized the tight schedule in professional football. “It's crazy what we're doing there,” said the 54-year-old in an interview with Sky Sport . “We have neither a break nor proper preparation and no time to train during the season. You have to think about that, something is wrong,” said the German.
“In the long term it can only lead in one direction – and that is the wrong one. That is why it should be changed,” demanded the coach.
Nations League “nonsensical”
Klopp also criticized the Nations League. “We said back when the Nations League was introduced that it was a completely nonsensical competition. The reason was that there were too many meaningless games, there were so many friendlies.” Now the competition is there and there is no longer any possibility of taking out a game. “All associations have maneuvered in there,” said Klopp. “The player has to pay for it, that's absolute madness.” And: “This greed is carried out on the back of the player.”
He compared professional football to US sport. “A lot of money is spent in football, and even more in American sports. They have a break every four months plus a preparation. They also play boom, boom, boom, boom – but they have a break,” said the former coach of Borussia Dortmund .
Most recently, Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made people sit up and take notice with his criticism of the tight schedule. After losing the Nations League game for third place, the 29-year-old Real Madrid goalie said: “They don't care about the players, they just care about the money!”
“They don't care about the players, they only care about the money!” Belgium keeper Courtois criticizes the football associations for expanding the game calendar. He also rejects a World Cup every two years: “When should we rest?” #ITABEL
pic.twitter.com/5MHG7yij84
– Deutschlandfunk Sport (@DLF_Sport) October 11, 2021
“When should we rest?”
Courtois also rejects a world championship every two years, as the world association FIFA is planning: “When should we rest?” Klopp had recently heavily criticized the plans. “At some point someone has to understand that without the players, the main ingredient in this wonderful game, we can't play,” he said. The coaching legend Arsène Wenger sees it differently: “The younger generation wants to be entertained,” believes the Frenchman. If you ask the players, you will hear that they all want to play “big games”.
🗣️ “The perception of time has changed and the younger generation wants to be entertained much more.”
Arsene Wenger gives his reasons for backing the biennial World Cup, saying that players want to play big games more regularly. pic.twitter.com/HYaOyRelip
– Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 15, 2021
