Klopp takes aim at the enemy within the game: Richard Buxton
Liverpool manager blasts broadcasters for hectic match schedules
Both on and off the pitch, Juergen Klopp has become an expert in the explosive. As Liverpool continue to prove too hot to handle, their manager is similarly smouldering.
Sections of Klopp's interview after his side's 3-0 English Premier League win over Leicester City were considered too incendiary for television consumption in Britain, mainly as he was biting the hand that feeds.
| LIVERPOOL | ATALANTA |
But the rest of the football world still managed to hear it anyway. Whether the broadcasters take on board what the German said in his untelevised broadside remains to be seen.
Klopp's bouncy general demeanour is at odds with a newfound status as the game's equivalent of revolutionary Che Guevara; standing up to provide a voice for the disaffected.
A growing fixture pile-up is the latest hill on which the Reds' boss is prepared to die on, claiming his squad might struggle to finish this season with a full starting XI intact.
Such extremism appears far fetched, yet his point remains no less valid when assessing a convoluted schedule where clubs are now running the gauntlet on a weekly basis.
Throughout Europe, teams are already feeling the pinch of what Klopp calls the "Covid season".
Injuries and coronavirus infections go hand in hand at an alarming frequency, as players are expected to perform three times per week with virtually no respite.
Since kicking off their title defence, Liverpool have played 14 times in 78 days across all competitions, with two international breaks conflating their turnaround between games.
If they overcome Atalanta in their Champions League group encounter tomorrow morning (Singapore time), a place in the knockout stages will be virtually assured.
PRESSING CONCERN
What state the English champions are left in for Saturday's visit to Brighton, let alone when the Round-of-16 games roll around in mid-February, is a more pressing concern.
Anfield's casualty list continues to swell, with Naby Keita joining practically their entire defensive ranks on the sidelines after limping out against Leicester on Monday morning.
Beyond the Shankly Gates, some of Klopp's continental counterparts clearly share in his overload apprehension with Barcelona standing down both Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong for their trip to Dynamo Kiev this morning, following a punishing run of matches.
It is necessary for the Catalan giants to wrap the influential pair in cotton wool, at a time that their own walking wounded threatens to give Liverpool a run for their money.
Klopp has not seized upon football's latest hot-button issue over the implementation of five substitutes as part of some diabolical scheme to bend its will in his team's favour.
Logic dictates that more games with minimal recovery time not only spark an injury surge, but also cause an inevitable dilution in quality for many of the game's flagship tournaments.
Next summer's Euro 2020 and Copa America risk suffering the same fate that the EPL, Champions League and other continental competitions are currently forced to endure.
Football's key stakeholders, however, appear happier to use the ingredients produced by its golden goose for a junk diet instead of more enriching and longer-lasting rewards.
Klopp's reasoned outlook prioritises player welfare but those higher up are still concerned with lining their own pockets.
Unless they come around to his way of thinking, the aftermath of the "Covid season" could haunt football for years to come.
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