January 16 – Having defended his decision to leave Liverpool and join Red Bull as their head of global football, Jürgen Klopp has now slammed the expansion of the Club World Cup, saying it is one step too far for overworked players and meaningless.
Despite Red Bull-backed Salzburg’s inclusion in FIFA’s expanded 32-team tournament in the United States next summer, Klopp is firmly against it.
“I think it’s useless. It doesn’t help if you have no summer break,” Klopp declared, referring to players who played in the World Cup, European Championship, Copa America or other international competitions.
“Who wins the tournament is the poorest winner of all time because he has to play the whole summer through and then the league starts again.
“We have to reduce the amount of games. That means in some leagues it would be better (if) you have 18 instead of 20. That means in other competitions, you don’t add games.”
Klopp, who was being presented in his new role before the media, suggested fans should have the opportunity to watch other sports during the summer, not just football.
“In Germany, you could watch handball. In Austria, you could watch skiing or whatever. You have other wonderful sports that you could watch in that time,” Klopp said. “You don’t have to fill each gap with football.”
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