Premier League
PREMIER LEAGUE: LIVERPOOL BOSS KLOPP BLASTS END OF FIVE-SUB RULE
As the new English Premier League season kicks off this Saturday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp branded the decision not to extend the use of five substitutions as a lack of common sense as he voiced his concerns for player welfare in a congested season.
The Reds begin the defence of their Premier League title at home to Leeds today, in a campaign that is starting a month later than normal due to the three-month halt to last season caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Both Cup competitions in England have been retained, while Liverpool are among the clubs who will face six Champions’ League group games in seven weeks between late next month and early December.
Despite the fixture pile-up, the Premier League has not followed the example of other major European leagues in extending a temporary rule after the resumption of last season. The rule allowed matchday squads to increase from 18 to 20 and managers to make five substitutions instead of three.
“We press a normal season into a shorter period which will be a proper challenge, especially with the wonderful rule we set up with 18 (players) and three (substitutes),” Klopp said yesterday.
“It’s only about player welfare, nothing else, but I don’t know why we have to discuss it at all and not everybody says yes of course, like the whole world is doing, at least the whole of Europe!”
Two votes on the rule found a majority of Premier League clubs were against the rule being extended, with those nearer the bottom of the table fearing it gave the bigger clubs with better squads an even greater advantage.
“I thought from a common sense point of view that for this year, only this year not forever, that we would have 20 and five,” added the German. “It is not about having advantages, it is about player welfare and about having the highest quality in the games for all teams.”
Liverpool do not have the deepest of squads while Klopp favours using a core group of players, with just 24 utilised en route to last season’s title win.
The club also adopted a cautious approach in the transfer market, given the financial fall-out from the coronavirus and their only addition to date is Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United have all sought to strengthen their squads, with the Blues investing almost £200 million (S$350 million).
But Klopp warned their rivals that splashing out on new faces is no guarantee of success.
“For some clubs it seems less important how uncertain the future is: those owned by countries, owned by oligarchs,” the German told the BBC.
“We cannot just change it overnight and say, ‘So now we want to behave like Chelsea’. Now they are signing a lot of players. That can be an advantage of course but that means they have to fit together pretty quickly as well.”
He also had a note of caution for his team, knowing they cannot look further ahead than the visit of a Leeds side returning to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.
“They are well drilled and the way they defend is exceptional, pretty much man-marking plus one,” he said.
Liverpool will await late fitness tests for captain Jordan Henderson and Xherdan Shaqiri. Both have returned to training with the team.
Leeds are without injured duo Gaetano Berardi and Adam Forshaw.
Marcelo Bielsa, who signed a one-year extension yesterday, is eager to see how his side will fare in the Premier League.
“We have prepared but we need to show it on the pitch,” he said. “We have been forming a group for some time and we have kept players we believe can play at a higher level.”
-AFP
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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