2020 FA Cup

[bluesfan94]

This absolutely is down to the arrogance of the FA. It’s ridiculous and Klopp is the only one calling them out for it. He is transparent. Coddled is a ridiculous word to use here. It’s 2020; just because the FA still thinks it’s 1966, doesn’t mean that teams should make their players run through the walls. Liverpool have lost players to injury this season because they played people that were in the red such as Lovren, Milner and Keita. The “winter break” was imposed for a reason, teams were told not to schedule games during that time frame, and look what happened. It’s ridiculous, and it’s not a Liverpool problem. Klopp is calling them out on their bull**** and I’m glad he is. He is one of the managers that is advocating for his players, and it should be applauded.

If you are trying to claim Liverpool has played less games that Shrewsbury, again that is missing a ton of the picture. You can isolate a month and count games, but how many of Shrewsbury players were in Copa America? How many were in the “Nations League?” How many were doing AFCON? How many have hard to travel across Europe and Asia for games in the middle of the season? There is attrition. It adds up. Sadio Mane (until his injury) hadn’t gotten a break in about two seasons; what a shock he got a muscle injury. Again if the FA Cup is SO IMPORTANT reschedule the game outside of the break that was promised, and teams were told not to schedule games during.

Arsène Wenger used to use the domestic cups to help develop his youth. Alex Ferguson took Man Utd out of the FA Cup twenty years ago. This isn’t a Liverpool thing. This isn’t a Klopp thing. If Klopp and Liverpool’s sport scientists thinks this will help the team stay healthy people should back them, instead of trying to look for reasons to discredit a special team.

FA’s fault Liverpool can’t figure out how to rotate players and build a deep enough squad to withstand injuries. Sure literally hundreds of other teams in England have to do it, but this time it’s the FA’s fault. Spare me.

 

[PeteWorrell]

I am more surprised that people that follow the Premier League still care for this tin pot. Let the small clubs enjoy this thing while Liverpool move on to bigger things.

 

[Savant]

FA’s fault Liverpool can’t figure out how to rotate players and build a deep enough squad to withstand injuries. Sure literally hundreds of other teams in England have to do it, but this time it’s the FA’s fault. Spare me.

FA’s fault for scheduling games during a mandatory break period. Again. This isn’t a Liverpool issue. You are looking at the wrong picture.

 

[Live in the Now]

They have a deep enough squad. They just don't see the point in using it in this game because their sports scientists have told them not to, and because Klopp promised the players they would not play. Clearly these methods work and that's why they're on their way to yet another trophy.

Now, that being said, Klopp has been complaining about fixture congestion for literally years because he thinks that great players could play even more years if not for that problem. It has nothing to do with how the team currently is or anything like that. The stuff he's said about this game is stuff that he was saying his first season on the job.

 

[HoseEmDown]

FA’s fault for scheduling games during a mandatory break period. Again. This isn’t a Liverpool issue. You are looking at the wrong picture.

This isn't the FA's fault. It's only a mandatory break for the premier league not the entire football league. This is a Liverpool issue because they aren't the only premier league team that needs a replay. You don't hear Mourinho or Bruce complaining about the replay. Tottenham have a much tougher game prior to the replay as they play Man City. It's also not the FA's fault Liverpool couldn't hold a 2 goal league against a league one team.

I also love to hear how traveling for an international game is so taxing. These guys are traveling in luxury these days. These guys are playing on the best pitches in England and abroad, they are getting the best treatment and training yet it's still not good enough. These lower league teams have much worse conditions to deal with for games and travel, they don't have the same medical staff or treatment regimes, they don't get a "mandatory break" yet are still going and putting their best team out there. Liverpool will still have 11 days in between games yet somehow that's not good enough. The only ones who look bad in this situation are Klopp and Liverpool.

 

[Live in the Now]

Each flight from a place like London to Rio is a full day spent in the air. Then on those international breaks, they take another long flight somewhere. Then all the way back. That stuff adds up very fast. The only ones who look bad are those who look at the schedule of every team and think that’s okay.

The bit about traveling in luxury is somewhat true. It depends if you play for a European country or not. If you don’t you get to ride back in a plane that stops at the various stops that other players play at on your way back home. Coutinho missed a game at Liverpool because of this. Or you can be real lucky and be on the Argentina plane that has such little fuel even the smallest delay will lead to everyone being killed.

If you think guys like Mané and Keïta travel in comfort, man. You would be surprised. Most of these federations have no money. And in the case of a team like Liverpool that has a lot of players who aren’t European, those are very long flights. These guys arent riding Emirates first class or something. They’re on planes paid for by people with a maximum interest in saving money.

If Klopp says the players are tired and need a break, he should be taken at his word. It also means another English team besides Liverpool might win something this season, so nobody should be all that bothered.

 

[maclean]

Klopp isn't making a big deal of it or "whining", he said his piece, made his call and I think it's a fair one. Do the lower league teams have congestion too and have to deal with it? Sure, but this is an opportunity for them, I doubt they're complaining that Liverpool won't be fielding their best

 

[Savant]

Melissa Reddy does a great job of summing things up here:

 

[bluesfan94]

FA’s fault for scheduling games during a mandatory break period. Again. This isn’t a Liverpool issue. You are looking at the wrong picture.

It’s not mandatory. It’s a gift provided by the EPL that they asked teams to respect by not scheduling friendlies. Most of the FA doesn’t get it. Props to Klopps whining, though, because he earned his side that week off by bitching so much over the last few years. A shame his side couldn’t beat Shrewsbury and take advantage of it. And apparently a shame Kloppo has yet to figure out how to rotate a squad and build one deep enough to survive fitness woes.

 

[bluesfan94]

If Klopp says the players are tired and need a break, he should be taken at his word. It also means another English team besides Liverpool might win something this season, so nobody should be all that bothered.

Which is fine. I’m glad the man learned how to rotate his squad finally. Some might say it’s better to do it progressively instead of all at once but Klopp can make his own decisions. Just don’t whine about how the FA is so unfair for not giving Liverpool more advantages over a lower level side. Pretty poor showing from the “juggernaut” that they couldn’t knock off Shrewsbury the first time.

and spare me the histrionics about internationals. Shrewsbury has some too and I don’t think Grenada is flying in style.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

To be fair, Shrewsbury arent expected to deliver a product at quite the same quality level on the pitch. You could theoretically play a football match every day. 90 minutes of playing a game isnt conquering Everest. But its not going to be very good and more importantly if your opponents aren't also playing every day you are not going to be competitive in the long run. Klopp understandably isnt so concerned about Shrewsburys comparative burden, but more about the better teams in the PL and CL.

 

[Epictetus]

Melissa Reddy does a great job of summing things up here:

I swear every time something from her is posted on here she's with a different company.

It’s not mandatory. It’s a gift provided by the EPL that they asked teams to respect by not scheduling friendlies. Most of the FA doesn’t get it. Props to Klopps whining, though, because he earned his side that week off by *****ing so much over the last few years. A shame his side couldn’t beat Shrewsbury and take advantage of it. And apparently a shame Kloppo has yet to figure out how to rotate a squad and build one deep enough to survive fitness woes.

There's a whole of different points that have been posted here that are related, I guess. But for me, these English footballing associations should be able to get on the same page and not step over each other shoes. If the PL is saying make sure to use this break you get, Klopp or any other manager is perfectly in the right to choose to follow that guideline and ignore the FA Cup. Their choose to ignore the FA Cup is further reinforced in the fact that they've planned this 'break' for the senior players for quite some time based on the PL guideline, so whether or not they should have beaten Shrewsbury is ultimately irrelevant.

 

[bluesfan94]

I swear every time something from her is posted on here she's with a different company.



There's a whole of different points that have been posted here that are related, I guess. But for me, these English footballing associations should be able to get on the same page and not step over each other shoes. If the PL is saying make sure to use this break you get, Klopp or any other manager is perfectly in the right to choose to follow that guideline and ignore the FA Cup. Their choose to ignore the FA Cup is further reinforced in the fact that they've planned this 'break' for the senior players for quite some time based on the PL guideline, so whether or not they should have beaten Shrewsbury is ultimately irrelevant.

Which is fine. You can choose to ignore the FA Cup. Just don’t paint it as this injustice thrust upon Liverpool. Yes, the PL break was planned a while out. But it’s not like replay dates were this closely held secret kept in Fort Knox.

 

[Savant]

It’s not mandatory. It’s a gift provided by the EPL that they asked teams to respect by not scheduling friendlies. Most of the FA doesn’t get it. Props to Klopps whining, though, because he earned his side that week off by *****ing so much over the last few years. A shame his side couldn’t beat Shrewsbury and take advantage of it. And apparently a shame Kloppo has yet to figure out how to rotate a squad and build one deep enough to survive fitness woes.

If it’s put on the schedule, and teams are told not to schedule games during it, then it’s mandatory. Unless you have a different definition of the word.
Absolutely this all is avoided by not blowing a lead against Shrewsbury, which I said at the time, but again look at the Reddy article I posted.

I think winning a Champions League last season and being 9 wins away from a Premier League this season shows Klopp can manage late into a season just fine. The fact that Liverpool is being judged on if they can win doubles and triples now instead of fighting for 3rd or 4th (with silverware also as a bonus) speaks volumes unto how far he has taken that team. I’m not trading an extra round of a domestic cup for any thing Klopp has won already with Liverpool. We won the League Cup, and it did nothing for our profile. What have the multiple FA Cups that Arsenal won this decade done for them besides get Wenger more time? What did it do for Man Utd? How is Wigan doing? Liverpool have bigger fish to fry.

 

[Savant]

I swear every time something from her is posted on here she's with a different company.

There's a whole of different points that have been posted here that are related, I guess. But for me, these English footballing associations should be able to get on the same page and not step over each other shoes. If the PL is saying make sure to use this break you get, Klopp or any other manager is perfectly in the right to choose to follow that guideline and ignore the FA Cup. Their choose to ignore the FA Cup is further reinforced in the fact that they've planned this 'break' for the senior players for quite some time based on the PL guideline, so whether or not they should have beaten Shrewsbury is ultimately irrelevant.

Reddy is great. She keeps getting promoted, her rise has been really meteoric and she’s done it the right way. Super professional reporter.

 

[Savant]

Which is fine. You can choose to ignore the FA Cup. Just don’t paint it as this injustice thrust upon Liverpool. Yes, the PL break was planned a while out. But it’s not like replay dates were this closely held secret kept in Fort Knox.

It’s not an injustice thrown specifically on Liverpool, they are just have the only manager that has the balls to call out how stupid this is.

In fact you have basically proven Klopp’s point. PL Break was planned out over a year ago. If teams knew (they did) that they were going to have that time off, why did the FA not accommodate that with planning the replay dates around that? That’s the point. There are two organizations who are only out to make themselves money and don’t care about adding more games at the expense of the players well being. There are sports scientists who back this up. It’s 2020, teams know better. Klopp is taking a stand.

 

[Havre]

100% behind Klopp and Liverpool on this one. Very good that someone like Klopp - who has the most job security in the whole PL - can use his position to try to change things.

It's not only football. I believe some handball players are getting close to playing 100 games a year now. This years Euro was just pathetic as the final was played by teams completely drained of energy. That game didn't resemble a proper handball game at all.

Sure you can rotate and I don't disagree that teams can't expect to play the same 11 players all the time, but you got to be able to have some sort of stability in your line-up. No coincidence that when teams like Leicester and Chelsea have won the league they have also used less players than the other top teams. Consistency matters and gives us a better product. I rather watch good players play with energy 1-2 a week than a mish mash of the best players and squad players play without energy 3-4 times a week.

 

[YNWA14]

It’s not mandatory. It’s a gift provided by the EPL that they asked teams to respect by not scheduling friendlies. Most of the FA doesn’t get it. Props to Klopps whining, though, because he earned his side that week off by *****ing so much over the last few years. A shame his side couldn’t beat Shrewsbury and take advantage of it. And apparently a shame Kloppo has yet to figure out how to rotate a squad and build one deep enough to survive fitness woes.

Tell us how you really feel.

No problem at all with what Klopp is doing, and I'm sure most teams and players are thankful for the stand against the fixture congestion. Klopp sure hasn't figured out how to manage his team through these woes, you've hit that nail right on the head, Liverpool are suffering and struggling mightily.

 

[bluesfan94]

Tell us how you really feel.

No problem at all with what Klopp is doing, and I'm sure most teams and players are thankful for the stand against the fixture congestion. Klopp sure hasn't figured out how to manage his team through these woes, you've hit that nail right on the head, Liverpool are suffering and struggling mightily.

I mean, sure he's winning, but apparently he's constantly playing players who are "in the red"

It’s not an injustice thrown specifically on Liverpool, they are just have the only manager that has the balls to call out how stupid this is.

In fact you have basically proven Klopp’s point. PL Break was planned out over a year ago. If teams knew (they did) that they were going to have that time off, why did the FA not accommodate that with planning the replay dates around that? That’s the point. There are two organizations who are only out to make themselves money and don’t care about adding more games at the expense of the players well being. There are sports scientists who back this up. It’s 2020, teams know better. Klopp is taking a stand.

Because the FA isn't and shouldn't be run by the PL. The PL can choose to not schedule some games during a week and the PL can choose to ask teams to respect that. They don't get to tell the FA what to do. It's not like the FA Cup dates are a huge surprise either. It'll be January 30th next year for the Fourth Round Proper and replays will be played on February 8th. Don't let it sneak up on you. If this were a CL tie on the 4th, no Liverpool fan would be throwing a fit, I'm sure.

Sports scientists will also tell you that it would be better for players to only play 45 minutes, not to head the ball, and to remove tackling all together.

I rather watch good players play with energy 1-2 a week than a mish mash of the best players and squad players play without energy 3-4 times a week.

Teams rarely have 3 games in a week except for the Christmas period. Liverpool is an exception this week because they had to move a game for something else. But if people are so opposed to playing more games, then let's get rid of the Champions League and get ride of the cups. We should only have domestic leagues.

 

[phisherman]

This just means Man Utd 99 team>Liverpool 2020 team.

Way harder to win a treble.

 

[Savant]

This just means Man Utd 99 team>Liverpool 2020 team.

Way harder to win a treble.

Oh this is outstanding.

No one is making that comparison (yet anyway), but Do you realize 1999 Man Utd team dropped out of the FA Cup entirely; because of the Club World Cup

 

[phisherman]

Oh this is outstanding.

No one is making that comparison (yet anyway), but Do you realize 1999 Man Utd team dropped out of the FA Cup entirely; because of the Club World Cup

Sorry just to be specific Man U 98-99. And looking at it further they were asked to drop out of the FA Cup.

They would've defended it like men unlike this Liverpool team.

 

[Savant]

I mean, sure he's winning, but apparently he's constantly playing players who are "in the red"

Because the FA isn't and shouldn't be run by the PL. The PL can choose to not schedule some games during a week and the PL can choose to ask teams to respect that. They don't get to tell the FA what to do. It's not like the FA Cup dates are a huge surprise either. It'll be January 30th next year for the Fourth Round Proper and replays will be played on February 8th. Don't let it sneak up on you. If this were a CL tie on the 4th, no Liverpool fan would be throwing a fit, I'm sure.

Sports scientists will also tell you that it would be better for players to only play 45 minutes, not to head the ball, and to remove tackling all together..

I mean he has played Lovren, Milner, Keita and Mane when they were “in the red” and of those players, only Lovren (who was hurt early) made it to the second half of the games that they were injured. So yeah...it happens.
The rest of this is too absurd to merit a response, but again proves the point that the real problem is that these entities should be working together, but they aren’t.

 

[Havre]

Well. My point wasn't the exact number of games - just that at some point there are too many. I think most fans agree that there are too many games.

As an example is it quite ridiculous that we are now to expect that players going far in the WC will often have a weaker season than they otherwise would have.

 

[Live in the Now]

Sorry just to be specific Man U 98-99. And looking at it further they were asked to drop out of the FA Cup.

They would've defended it like men unlike this Liverpool team.

Nope, they dropped out of the FA Cup all on their own. There were also far less international breaks in those days. The expansion of those are really the main culprits behind this madness.