SAM ALLARDYCE has continued his goading of Jurgen Klopp by claiming the
Liverpool manager has only himself to blame for the injury epidemic that
threatens to derail the club’s campaign.
Sunderland manager Allardyce said Klopp had misjudged the ferocity of the
Premier League and that, coupled with his high-octane approach, was
responsible for the crisis that sees the Anfield hierarchy discussing moves
to bring a new defender in on loan.
Liverpool saw Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren sustain hamstring injuries
in the 1-0 Capital One Cup semi-final win over Stoke on Tuesday and now have
11 players out injured.
“That is him (Klopp) asking his players to play a high tempo pressing game
from the top end,” said Allardyce. “It’s great that the players have been
able to carry it out but I think it has kicked in now.
“I don’t think Jurgen has realised just how ferocious our league is at this
period of time and because he has asked for that extra high energy, that
extra 10 yards, these lads are fatiguing now with so many games in such a
short period of time and are picking up these muscle strains.
“They are highly trained athletes more than ever before, and they become more
susceptible to injuries by the amount of work they do in a game now.”
Allardyce added: “I still hark on about having a break at this time to lessen
the workload on players.
“As a league and as a country we should look at helping the players along the
way. Stoke played the same team for the fourth game in a row and the lads
looked like they couldn’t run.”
The acerbic assessment comes after Allardyce dismissed Klopp as a “soft
German” for complaining Jeremain Lens should have been sent-off for a tackle
on Mamadou Sakho in Liverpool’s 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light last week.
Sakho missed the win at The Britannia and with Lovren and Martin Skrtel also
now casualties, Klopp is targeting reinforcements.
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