Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has compared this week’s Premier League meeting to like ‘speaking to a wall’ as the row over the festive fixture schedule rages on.
All 20 top-flight bosses were present for an emergency meeting earlier this week, with Covid-19 threatening to derail the season.
Last weekend saw six separate fixtures cancelled thanks to outbreaks up and down the country amid calls for a potential ‘circuit breaker’ over Christmas.
Certain managers have grown disillusioned with the hectic schedule over Christmas, with clubs expected two times in a matter of days.
Postponed fixtures have only added further complications to an already loaded few months as fears for player safety continue to be voiced.
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Mirror Sport reported that Liverpool manager - a vocal critic of the Christmas fixtures - made a passionate protest to his colleagues asking for changes to come in.
Klopp made two key points in his recommendations to the Premier League officials:
The Christmas tradition of Boxing Day and Dec 28th games is ‘inhuman’ and must go, and schedules should allow a minimum of 72 hours between fixtures.
Clubs must be completely transparent relating to Covid cases, offering full information to the Premier League and to opponents, allowing preparation and planning, and also appropriate safety measures to be implemented.
Conte’s side have seen three fixtures postponed in the last month, one for inclement weather vs Burnley and two more thanks to a rise in positive coronavirus cases.
But after it was decided fixtures would continue unaffected, the Italian hinted that he felt the meeting was relatively pointless.
“If I have to be honest, it was a meeting that we tried to speak and some coaches tried to speak, to ask about solutions but I think everything was decided,” he said in his press conference on Christmas Eve. “I think yesterday it was a wall and for this reason I also prefer to not go into it.”
Asked if it was a waste of time, the Spurs manager added: “I think so.
“Because when you have a wall in front of you, you can speak and ask what you want but every decision was taken.”
Conte and Klopp are also in agreement over another potential solution to the fixture pile-up, urging the EFL to make next month’s Carabao Cup semi finals settled over just one leg.
"I think it would be better with one game absolutely, but obviously what I say is not too important," admitted Reds manager Klopp after beating Leicester.
Spurs boss Conte added: "Maybe it would be better to play one game and not two games, especially for the situation we are living but we have to respect the rules."
Currently the ties are expected to be played on January 5 and 12, when cases of Omicron are expected to be high.
