EPL

Football missed chance to address 'crazy' World Cup timing, says Klopp

By Sports Desk November 04, 2022

Jurgen Klopp believes the problems arising from a "crazy" mid-season World Cup should have been addressed long ago amid a swathe of injuries affecting big-name players.

Debates around the scheduling of the tournament, which begins when hosts Qatar face Ecuador on November 20, have intensified after several players' hopes of featuring were thrown into doubt.

England trio Kyle Walker, Reece James and Ben Chilwell are fighting to be fit for the tournament, while South Korea's Son Heung-min is also a doubt after suffering a fracture around his left eye in Tottenham's Champions League win at Marseille on Tuesday.

Liverpool great Jamie Carragher responded to that injury by calling the World Cup's timing an "absolute disgrace", but Klopp says football missed the chance to challenge it.

Asked about the situation ahead of Liverpool's Premier League meeting with Spurs, Klopp interjected: "I hate this subject. These problems were so clear, so clear.

"Nobody mentioned it once until three, four weeks before the World Cup, when all of a sudden a player gets injured and we think, 'Oh, he cannot play the World Cup'. 

"This specific problem that players who were injured late in the season cannot play the World Cup is not new. After a long season, it happens everywhere in the world. 

"But now, starting the World Cup a week after the last game, that's a bigger risk. Crazy.

"Nobody cares about us, how we deal with it. You ask me a question as if I can give you all the answers; what do you think I should do? Ask the players before Southampton or before Derby [County]: 'Really? [Do you] want to play?' 

"We are all guilty – you more than I am guilty – for letting it happen, for letting it happen in the first place. 

"Now it's happened, and now we have this situation, and that's it. For the players who get injured and cannot play, it's a disaster. But how can we change that?"

Related items

  • Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot

    Adrien Rabiot believes Sunday's win over Italy showed "the true face of the France team" as they secured top spot in Nations League Group A2.

    The midfielder headed home twice in their 3-1 victory, meeting excellent deliveries from Lucas Digne on both, with his second goal restoring the all-important two-goal cushion that ensured they finished above the Azzurri in the group.

    This comes after France had failed to find a way past Israel in a frustrating 0-0 draw last time out.

    However, Sunday's victory ensured France will be seeded in the quarter-finals draw as they seem to have put their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, in which they won just twice as they struggled in front of goal, behind them.

    Les Bleus also avenged the 3-1 defeat to Italy on home soil in the reverse fixture, something Rabiot said was playing on their minds while they prepared for their trip to San Siro.

    "It's been a long time since we've played a match like this, that we haven't fought in this way all together, until the end," he told TF1.

    "We also had the objective of winning with a two-goal difference, we did it. But frankly, the mutual aid that there was in this match, the combativeness, the team spirit, it's to be highlighted. Frankly, we enjoyed playing this match.

    "It was a different context [Thursday]. Above all, there was a revenge to be taken compared to the previous match against Italy, who had come to win at home. It's a great evening. I hope we will continue to show this face. It's the true face of the France team."

    Digne officially got two assists in the victory, but he also played a big role in France's other goal – his free-kick rattled the crossbar before bouncing in off the unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario.

    In fact, France scored three goals from set-pieces in a match for the first time since 1991, when they netted three times from dead-ball situations against Albania.

    "[The free-kick is] a technical gesture that is worked on in training. The more you do, the more automatic it becomes, and it pays off," Digne said.

    "Offensively, it's not bad at all. As a defender, I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet, but we can't have everything. We finished first, it's great.

    "We had a revenge to take from the first leg, we wanted to show a completely different face. And in addition to our slightly worse match against Israel... We really wanted to show that this jersey is close to our hearts. The whole group was present. It was really a complete match."

    France's Nations League quarter-finals will be played in March. 

  • Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive

    Relegated Israel stunned Belgium 1-0 in their final Nations League game as Yarden Shua's late goal earned them their first win in the competition this season.

    The Red Devils, who were without a number of key players for the tie in Hungary, were masters of their own downfall as they gifted Israel the winner with four minutes left on the clock.

    In a cagey first half, Eli Dasa breached Belgium's backline 24 minutes in and beat Koen Casteels with a crisp low effort, only to be denied by the foot of the far post.

    Casteels was alert just before the break, getting down low to push Dor Peretz's low drive away from the bottom corner.

    Domenico Tedesco's half-time team talk looked to have buoyed his side as they upped the pressure, with Lois Openda hitting the side netting before Johan Bakayoko forced a fingertip save out of Daniel Peretz just after the hour.

    However, in their rush to find a winner, Belgium were caught playing out from the back. Dor Peretz latched onto Matte Smets' loose backpass, and though he was bundled over in the box, Shua coolly picked out the bottom corner.

    Israel finish bottom of Group A2 and are automatically relegated to League B, while Belgium sit above them due to a superior goal difference in their head-to-head record –they now have a relegation play-off to overcome.

    Data Debrief: Tough times for Tedesco

    It has been a Nations League campaign to forget for Belgium, who managed just one win and finished with a whimper as they went winless in their final four matches (D1 L3).

    They just edged the shot count in Budapest, having 12 attempts to Israel's 10, but without the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne to call on, they lacked a clinical edge.

    While Belgium struggled in attack, their defensive struggles will also be a worry for Tedesco. They failed to win any of the four games in which they fell behind in the group, earning just one point from a losing position.

  • Tottenham's Odobert undergoes hamstring surgery Tottenham's Odobert undergoes hamstring surgery

    Tottenham have confirmed that Wilson Odobert has undergone surgery for a hamstring injury.

    The 19-year-old joined Spurs from Burnley in August and made five appearances in all competitions for the north London side.

    He managed just 162 minutes in his three Premier League matches, creating three chances in that time, but has not featured in the competition since their 1-0 loss to Arsenal in mid-September.

    His last appearance was a two-minute cameo in the Europa League group stage amid ongoing hamstring problems.

    "We can confirm that Wilson Odobert underwent surgery to his right hamstring yesterday (Saturday 16th November)," Spurs said on social media.

    "The 19-year-old will continue to be closely monitored by our medical team to determine when he can return to training."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.