English football has been crying out for a winter break since Sven-Goran Eriksson first raised it nearly 20 years ago.
It took a foreign manager - and Eriksson became the first overseas boss to manage England when he took charge in January 2001 - to understand why players are burnt out at the end of the season.
And the frustration is that the Football Association, with the backing of the Premier League, finally won their long-running battle for a winter break - only to see it blow up in their faces.
It was the Premier League which wrote to clubs on March 29 of last year, urging them to respect the winter break, not to organise any fixtures because players needed “a break from the physical and mental rigours of playing matches during the season.”
And now, the irony of all ironies, the FA have organised matches, the fourth round replays, slap bang in the middle of the winter break. Honestly, you couldn’t make it up.
However much I love the FA Cup, I can understand Jurgen Klopp’s frustration. I don’t blame him for promising to play “the kids” in the replay with Shrewsbury.
But Klopp not bothering to be there himself is a step too far, in my opinion.
Let’s keep players fresh for the Euros. They need a break. Players in Germany and Spain benefit from it. We need to stop living in the past.
But, ultimately, Liverpool do still have an 11-day break between their FA Cup replay and their next Premier League match.
That’s 11 days, not the 15 days they hoped for, that they wouldn’t have otherwise had but for the winter break.
