‘Totally not the point’: Jamie Carragher defends Liverpool man who’s been ‘criticised’

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Jamie Carragher has defended Jurgen Klopp on CBS All Access (25/11/20 at 10:45 pm) after Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League.

The talk was centred around fixture pile-up and the likes of Klopp and Pep Guardiola getting ‘criticised’ for wanting five substitutes because of the packed schedule.

Liverpool, after playing on Sunday evening then played on Wednesday night, and they will now play a Premier League encounter against Brighton at Saturday lunchtime.

Those who are against the idea of five substitutes being brought back in to ease the pressure have pointed out that the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City don’t even use three subs when it’s available to them.

And former Reds defender Carragher insisted ‘that’s not the point’ because results are still the priority for these managers, as he spoke about the situation after their defeat in the Champions League last night.

“That’s the dilemma now with managers this season and certainly Jurgen Klopp,” said Carragher. “When you play Wednesday night and you have a Premier League game on Saturday 12:30 pm. You have to use the squad! I am sure he will get criticism, but I think before the game, you looked at the team and said ‘that is the team he has to play’ and keep two eyes on the Champions League and Premier League.

“Jurgen Klopp has been quite vocal about it and he has had a lot of criticism about it as well. But I can totally understand where he is coming from.

“When people criticised Klopp and Pep for this [five subs] they say ‘you didn’t use three substitutes in that game, so why do you want five?’ That is totally not the point!

“What that tells you is that if Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola don’t use three subs. What it tells you is that the results are still the most important thing. They are not going to be changing people for the sake of it and risking results. You have to get results.”

The problems are the number of games that are being played and how those fixtures are being scheduled – a prime example is what Liverpool have to go through this week.

No-one is willing to cut their nose off for the better, i.e, not playing unnecessary friendly matches during the international break.

But what’s worse for the Reds is that their treatment room is already filling up and they are yet to enter the festive period.