Jurgen Klopp has give his take on Liverpool’s controversial argument with the Brazil national team. The Reds’ boss explained why they were so desperate to avoid quarantining players.
You’ve almost certainly heard about the controversy surrounding Brazil players. If not, we wrote up a piece trying to explain the situation.
In short, players returning to the UK from Brazil would have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days. Liverpool – and subsequently the rest of the Premier League – refused to release their players as a result.
Brazil got angry and threatened to have FIFA ban those players for the weekend.
Ridiculously, though, things have actually moved on twice since we wrote that two days ago. Firstly, FIFA did in fact ban said players. But now it’s unclear if that ban holds up or if FIFA will even stick with it.
And so here we are, literally the day before Premier League football resumes, and no one knows if Brazilians can play. It’s ridiculous.
But the question is, why were Liverpool so desperate to take that controversial stance? Surely the quarantine was just as bad as the potential ban?
Well, according to Jurgen Klopp, the ban is the far superior option.
Klopp on Brazil debate
“Our players, if they come back then they have to quarantine 10 days in a random hotel,” said Klopp, per Liverpoolfc.com. “Next to the airport probably, which is not good for any people who have to do that but for a professional football player, being 10 days in a hotel – with the food they get from there – you lose everything.
“You lose muscle, you lose everything. It means 10 days in the hotel, coming back [and] needing pretty much 10 days to get on track again.”
That really does explain it, then. These are finely tuned athletes who stick to strict diets and exercise regimes. Losing that for 10 days effectively leaves them needing a mini pre-season to get back on track.
It might sound exaggerated but we believe it. Elite clubs push players to their absolute maximum – it’s the only sensible way to operate when every minor advantage can make such a huge difference.
So while the likes of Alisson and Fabinho may not play on Sunday, they’ll at least train and diet properly. That, it seems, is worth starting this argument with the Brazilian FA.