Jurgen Klopp Claims English Football Must Ease Fixture Congestion to Improve Standards
Jurgen Klopp believes that English football must find a way to ease fixture congestion if English teams are to produce a standard of football that can rival their continental rivals.
Klopp's Liverpool were kept busy in the second half of last season by their progress to the final of the Champions League, coupled with their fight for a place in the top four. Klopp has previously stressed his concern with how many matches English clubs play.
The Reds manager believes that a lighter fixture schedule, with occasional weekends off, would be beneficial to everyone.
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"It is a fact that this league is the hardest and most intense in the world," Klopp told Sport1. "It's just a collection of games, with two cup competitions. The big clubs are international.
"Nobody gives away a single game. Once you call the national coach and say, 'Hey, leave the player at home' - it's like you do not know what to do.
"That's the problem. Too many games do not help anyone. If we had fewer games overall, the level of football would be dramatically better again.
"At some point you have to say that we can do a weekend without football. This screw must not be over-tightened, otherwise it is difficult. But that seems to be remembered by few people. Football can still develop much further."
Klopp's suggestion of a weekend off will be fulfilled from the 2019-20 season onwards, when the Premier League will fall in line with much of Europe by introducing a winter break.
