'Playing Saturday might actually help': Mixed reaction to Jurgen Klopp's swipe at Liverpool schedule

BT Sport pundits defended the channel’s scheduling after Jurgen Klopp branded Liverpool’s televised fixtures as “nearly a crime”.

Liverpool have been given Saturday’s 12.30pm game, away at Brighton, in the first game of the weekend and barely 62 hours after the Champions League defeat to Atalanta at Anfield. The Premier League champions then face Ajax the following Tuesday.

“You (BT), my special friends, you ask us to go at 12.30 on Saturday which is nearly a crime to be honest.....nearly a crime,” Klopp said on BT Sport. “It is nothing to do with the match against Atalanta, but congratulations for that.”

Klopp’s comments sparked a discussion in the BT Sport studio, where presenter Gary Lineker suggested Liverpool could benefit from the early kick-off on Saturday to give them more time to prepare for the Ajax game.

"It's an interesting point about television because television funds a lot of football nowadays and has to have its slot,” Lineker said. “It is difficult on all sides when the season is concertinaed with a month less to get it into.

“I guess it's the nature of the season, unfortunate circumstances. Every game is being shown live on television which is appreciated, I think, by the supporters.

“You have to have some sympathy with them when they have that many games but I suppose in many ways playing this Saturday would actually be a help to play earlier because there now becomes a very important game next week in the Champions League.”

Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch added that managers are never happy with the scheduling.

“The clubs have agreed to it at the start of the season. We're in unforeseen circumstances and that is what he's complaining about, that maybe we could adjust but managers have been complaining about lots of games, coming back from Europe since the start of time,” Crouch said.

Rio Ferdinand had sympathy with Klopp but added that many other managers are also in his position.

“Listen, everyone is in the same boat. It doesn't make it right but you've got to get on with it,” Ferdinand said. “If you look at Liverpool's squad, the depth of his squad, they are sitting in a better position than most. You can understand his frustrations and he's not the only one, he's just the loudest one speaking at the moment.”

Klopp made changes to his starting line-up to keep players fresh for the 550-mile round trip to the Amex Stadium for their Saturday lunchtime fixture.

“We made five changes and it was very important that we did. It didn’t work out but that is part of the deal. I would do it again. In a few hours, we go to Brighton and play there. Then we’ll start to think about Ajax,” he said.

“All the kids did really well. Neco (Williams) did well, in the first half he was defending really often and was aggressive in his situations. It’s a tough task for the kids. We asked them to show up and play their best football, people say ‘he’s good’ or ‘he’s not that good’. Curtis (Jones) played like a 26 or 27-year-old midfielder and didn’t get tired which is helpful.”