Jurgen Klopp Hits out at Schedule, Says Fixture Congestion 'Not Acceptable'
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said football's hectic schedule has to change in the long term for the sake of the players.
The Reds are on a pre-season tour of the United States. Their 2019-20 campaign starts when they take on Manchester City in the Community Shield on August 4, 64 days after they beat Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League final.
In the interim, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have played in the Africa Cup of Nations for Senegal and Egypt, respectively, and Roberto Firmino and Alisson have won the Copa America with Brazil.
Mane got all the way to the AFCON 2019 final with Senegal, where they lost 1-0 to Algeria, which only took place on Friday.
As far as Klopp is concerned, it is not sustainable for players like Mane to continue playing as much as they do, per MailOnline's Dominic King:
"Ask Sadio how much holiday he has had. He's played pretty much every game for Senegal. He's played each game for us. Every international break, he is away. Ask him. We sit here and it sounds like I am having a moan or whatever.
"It is just the situation, in the long term, is not acceptable. For here [on pre-season] it is not a problem. We have all the boys here, apart from the three up front and Alisson. That's not the biggest problem for Ali [only having a couple of weeks to prepare] but the other three we will see.
"They need a holiday. It's not like after three days you can say to them 'Hey. Come on. Let's start running again.' They have had a tough summer programme. It's football. It's not riding a bike, so you lose a little bit [of rhythm]. It will all come back but it will be a tough start."
He also acknowledged that other teams such as their Champions League final opponents Spurs have the same issues.
Liverpool's schedule is already packed for the opening weeks of the season.
After the Community Shield, they kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Norwich City on August 9 before playing the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea in Istanbul on August 14.
That is followed by a Premier League trip to Southampton three days later.
It is unlikely Mane, Firmino or Salah will be fully match fit for the start of the season, a concern for Liverpool given how crucial the trio are to the side's success:
Klopp's side will be looking to make a fast start to the 2019-20 campaign as they attempt to win a first league title since 1990.
Last term they accrued a record 97 points and lost just one league game all season but were still pipped to the title by Manchester City.
Given how fine the margins are in the Premier League, a bad start could prove fatal to Liverpool's title chances, and Klopp may have to work out a way to pick up early victories without the help of his first-choice front three.
