In an atypical moment for Jurgen Klopp, the German manager lashed out against broadcasters in defense of his Liverpool players’ health.
Jurgen Klopp might’ve just declared war against England’s television broadcasters in his players’ defense. Despite winning the most recent match against Leicester City, it’s evident that the recent injury plague is getting Jurgen Klopp quite desperate.
The Reds’ boss doesn’t agree with the schedules that both Sky Sports and BT Sport have in spite of the coronavirus pandemic. This many games every three days with no time to rest is proving detrimental to several clubs as their players keep falling injured like flies. Liverpool is one of the most affected football clubs and Klopp is having none of it.
The coach decided to lash out against the broadcasters after his side’s victory against Leicester City in a passionate rant. This sets a precedent for a coming conflict between the manager and these institutions that seem to care very little about the players. Klopp showed that desperate times call for desperate measures but the broadcasters seem to only care about one thing: the show must go on.
Klopp’s rant against broadcasters.
“It was never about us when I talked about it, it was about all the players. If you don’t start talking to BT [Sport] we are all done,” said Klopp in a rant picked up by Goal.
“Sky and BT have to talk because if we keep playing on Wednesday and Saturday [at] 12:30, I’m not sure if we will finish the season with 11 players. I know you [the broadcasters] don’t care and that’s the problem. We’ve discussed it for a long time and nothing’s happened.
“I don’t talk about Liverpool, I talk about all the football players out there. Yesterday, [Gerard] Pique massive knee injury. Today, [Bukayo] Saka, maybe, I’m not sure, a knee injury – he played all three games for England during the international break.
“Now people tell us to rotate players but who? We have some offensive players but the rest are kids. It’s a massive problem. Wednesday and Saturday 12:30 is a broadcaster problem and nothing else. We play against Atalanta on Wednesday and then 12:30 [Saturday] against Brighton. It’s an early Christmas present. We will show up there shaking. I think about sending the points. That’s how it is.”
“Gentlemen, start talking and making decisions. I like the relationship with you. If someone tells me again about contracts I’ll go really nuts. Because these contracts aren’t made for a Covid season,” Klopp continued. “We all have to adapt. Everything’s changed, but the contracts with the broadcasters is still: ‘We have this, so we keep this’. What? Everything changed, the whole world changed!”