Liverpool assistant Lijnders finds lack of Premier League break ‘absurd’

The
Premier
League
clubs
convened
on
Monday
(December
20)
to
determine
whether
fixtures
on
December
28,
29
and
30
should
be
pushed
back.

Their
meeting
followed
a
raft
of
postponements
across
recent
matchdays,
with
Liverpool’s
enthralling
2-2
draw
with
Tottenham
on
Sunday
one
of
only
four
top-flight
matches
to
go
ahead
last
weekend
as
clubs
were
hit
by
coronavirus
cases
within
their
squads.

Premier
League
COVID-19
positives
surge
to
new
high
–
but
show
must
go
on

However,
a
decision
was
reached
to
play
the
games
over
the
busy
festive
period,
despite
concerns
from
a
number
of
clubs,
including
Liverpool.

The
Reds
face
Leicester
City
–
who
have
had
their
past
two
league
matches
postponed
due
to
a
COVID-19
outbreak
–
in
an
EFL
Cup
quarter-final
on
Wednesday,
before
they
take
on
Leeds
United
at
Anfield
in
an
early
kick-off
on
Boxing
Day.

Liverpool
then
travel
to
Leicester
for
a
league
meeting
with
Brendan
Rodgers’ side
on
Tuesday.

Asked
about
the
decision
in
a
news
conference
on
Tuesday,
Lijnders
said:
“Jurgen
made
this
point
really
clear.
We
really
think
we
have
to
protect
our
players.

“We
think
it’s
absurd
that
we
have
to
play
inside
48
hours
because
there’s
a
much
higher
risk
of
injury
and
the
quality
will
not
be
as
good.
The
moment
we
lose
players,
we
have
to
push
players
through,
the
risk
becomes
bigger.

“The
teams
who
want
to
play,
you
have
to
ask
them
in
these
circumstances,
but
I
think
it
would
be
a
wise
decision,
especially
with
the
COVID
cases
here
being
this
fresh.

“We
always
make
recommendations.
Each
year,
we
speak
with
the
Premier
League,
FA,
the
refs
and
we
give
our
honest
opinion
to
improve
the
quality
of
the
game.
That’s
what
we
did
in
this
meeting.

“We
love
to
work
in
England.
The
Premier
League,
the
intensity,
the
quality,
we
love
it,
but
we
all
have
to
respect
recovery.
If
you
want
a
quality
game,
it’s
important
that
the
players
don’t
accumulate
fatigue
because
if
our
players
are
more
fatigued,
they
are
not
as
brave,
not
as
creative,
not
as
spontaneous.”

Lijnders
also
believes
the
Premier
League
should
be
consulting
with
scientists
over
the
possibility
of
pausing
the
competition
as
cases
in
the
United
Kingdom
surge
upwards.

“For
me,
the
experts
are
not
the
managers.
The
experts
are
the
scientists
and
doctors,
and
they
should
be
asked
by
the
Premier
League,” he
said.

“They
should
ask
them,
not
the
CEOs
or
managers.
Health
always
comes
at
position
number
one.
The
people
going
to
hospital
now,
they
only
want
one
thing:
to
get
better.

“In
life
you
always
want
a
lot
of
things
but
when
you’re
sick
you
only
want
one
thing
and
that’s
getting
better.
We
are
in
this
job
to
protect
all
players,
all
staff,
all
their
family
members.”

Lijnders
also
confirmed
Virgil
van
Dijk,
Curtis
Jones,
Fabinho
and
Thiago
Alcantara
were
all
still
out
following
positive
COVID-19
tests.

“We
will
not
rush
them
back;
we
are
going
to
take
our
time.
This
virus
is
really
unpredictable.
We
have
to
see
if
they
get
sick,”
he
said.

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