Jurgen Klopp has warned that soccer could lose its value and appeal due to the increasing schedule, adding that the newly expanded Club World Cup is the “worst idea ever implemented” in the sport.
The former Liverpool manager, who took up a new role as Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer at the start of the year, has been a vocal critic of the mounting fixture lists, with the Champions League and international schedules growing in recent years.
The Club World Cup is the latest brainchild of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The tournament has drawn criticism for adding another tournament into a summer where elite players should have enjoyed a rare break.
Matches in sweltering conditions in the United States, most games failing to sell out and the tournament requiring an additional global transfer window have been among the plethora of criticisms of the competition, which offers eye-watering sums to those involved.
Klopp clearly isn’t a fan. “The Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football,” he told German outlet Welt. “People who have never been involved in day-to-day football or no longer have anything to do with it came up with it.
“I understand the people who say: ‘But there are huge sums involved for participation’. But not for every club. Last year the Copa and the Euros, this year the Club World Cup, and next year the World Cup.
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp left Liverpool last summer after nine years at Anfield.
“That means no real rest for the players involved, neither physically nor mentally. Of course, they all earn a lot of money. But let’s put that aside for a moment.
“An NBA player, who also earns really well, has four months off every year. Virgil van Dijk hasn’t even had that in his entire career. Tournaments like the Club World Cup can’t be held on the players’ backs. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but I have a big concern.
Pushed on what his concerns entail, Klopp added: “That in the coming season players will suffer injuries they’ve never had before. If not next season, then at the World Cup or afterward.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino shows the key to the trophy after unveiling the highly designed trophy as FIFA held its media preview for the Club World Cup at the FIFA Miami headquarters in Coral Gables, Florida
The Club World Cup has proved hugely controversial (Image: Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“We expect these guys to go into every game like it’s their last — 70, 75 times a year. But that can’t go on. We have to make sure they get breaks, because if they don’t, they won’t be able to deliver top performances over time. If they stop doing that, the whole product loses value for the sellers.
“I once had a preseason of two and a half weeks where all my players were available. Two and a half weeks and then we play almost every three days for a whole year. That’s brutal.”
Despite Klopp’s worries, his old side need not be concerned about burnout or additional injuries. Liverpool is not one of the Premier League clubs involved in the Club World Cup; instead, it’s Manchester City and Chelsea.
The pair could be impacted next term which would invariably hurt their Premier League title chance and could, conversely, improve Liverpool’s.