Former premier League chairman Simon Jordan has hit back at Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp over his thoughts on the festive football schedule.
The Reds were due to play two games in three days, prior to their Boxing Day clash with Leeds being postponed, but will still face other quick turnarounds next month after earning a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Klopp has been consistently vocal on his thoughts about player welfare and even insisted that he would prefer if Liverpool’s semi-final against Arsenal was reduced to one game , after his side’s dramatic victory over Leicester on Wednesday night.
However, the German coach’s complaints have not been well-received by ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan, who believes the Premier League should stick with tradition.
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“Klopp seems to be incredibly strident, as does his assistant manager whose little nuggets we had to listen to the previous day, about how the dynamics of football in this country should be held together,” Jordan told talkSPORT.
“Everybody’s playing on an equal playing field. Everybody understands the dynamics of it, at certain times of the year you are playing for the audience."
He continued: “This is for the audience. This is for the broadcasters and the fans that want the games in this way.
“I think there’s a massive pushback, and I might be wrong but I don’t think I am, that fans like this tradition.
“Have you forgotten what puts you where you are? What puts you where you are is the demand for the game because if you didn’t have the demand for the game, you and your colleagues wouldn’t be getting paid tens of millions of pounds per year.”
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson also echoed his manager’s thoughts on the subject in an interview with BBC Sport, earlier this week.
The 31-year-old believes that within the footballing authorities “nobody really takes player welfare seriously” , with the packed fixture calendar compounded by postponements due to covid-19.
The Boxing Day game between Wolves and Watford has also been postponed, with the Premier League reporting 90 new covid cases last week.
Despite the covid absentees placing additional strain on playing squads, Jordan has little sympathy for the challenges clubs are set to face in the coming weeks.
“We seem to be getting ahead into a situation where we’re managing the game by democracy,” he said.
“I don’t want to sound like some autocratic, old mill baron like Bob Lord used to be at Burnley, but enough already!
“Play the bloody game, get on with being players. You are being given far too much. Most players I know actually want to play these games.
“How about pinching yourself to realise how bloody lucky you are because if it wasn’t for football, half of you would be working in McDonalds.”
