Former Everton manager Sam Allardyce has said he hopes Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has ‘learnt his lesson’ over the intensity of his training sessions.
The German is notorious for how hard he pushes his charges in the days between matches, but Allardyce thinks he has probably learned to alter his approach to fit the demands of the Premier League.
“Personally I hope he’s learnt his lesson [from] when he first came, because he did that pressing job and he got about eight to 10 injuries,” he told talkSPORT [24/07; 08:13].
“I think when you train at a high intensity and play at a high intensity you’re going to burn players out, I was speaking to Sir Alex [Ferguson] about this at his golf do.”
OPINION
I’m not sure Klopp has ‘learnt his lesson’ about the intensity of his training sessions, but he has certainly slightly altered the style of play of his Liverpool team. When he first came to Anfield he was adamant about employing the pressing style that garnered him so much success with Borussia Dortmund. However, Allardyce is right, the German did see his players suffer a lot of niggling injuries at first. That probably was because they were training and playing at an intensity they weren’t used to. However, last season we saw the Reds play in a slightly different way. They weren’t pressing as strenuously as they had in the past. Sure, they still didn’t give their opponents much time on the ball, but it was less of a ginormous team effort focused entirely around nicking the ball off the opposition. So while training may not have changed much from what it was in Klopp’s early days, he may have alternated the team’s style of play a little bit to ensure prolonged success and health.
