Premier League finally listens to Jürgen Klopp complaint as major change to impact Liverpool

Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat at Everton on Wednesday means it is hugely unlikely to win the Premier League this season, especially with Manchester City strolling to a 4-0 win at Brighton the following evening. But before we know it, the Reds will be preparing for the 2024/25 campaign and plotting out how to make an assault on the league title once more.

There will of course be one major difference though, as for the first time since 2015 the campaign will not begin under the leadership of Jürgen Klopp. Feyenoord manager Arne Slot looks likely to be his successor, though nothing has yet been confirmed.

But whomever gets the gig, they look set to benefit from a Premier League change of which Klopp will approve. A long-term advocate for player welfare, the German will only wish the amendment to the football calendar occurred during his time at Liverpool.

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The Reds’ official website has revealed that Liverpool will learn its Premier League fixture list for 2024/25 on Tuesday June 18. “The season – which will consist of 33 weekends, four midweek rounds and one Bank Holiday matchweek – begins on August 17 and concludes on May 25, 2025,” the article stated.

“The Premier League has announced the mid-season break has been removed from the calendar to allow the mid-August start,” it continued. The lack of break may have annoyed Klopp, but this change will be to his liking: “Arrangements will also be made to allow more rest time during the festive period, with no club playing within 60 hours of another game.”

Prior to joining the Reds, Klopp had spent his career exclusively in German football, which always has a winter break. For instance, newly crowned champions Bayer Leverkusen had no match between December 20 and January 13 this season. But not only is there very little break in England, the teams actually play more games at that time of year, not fewer.

Klopp spoke about the festive fixture pile-up in 2021 (via Daily Mail). ”It's crazy, it was always crazy and will always be. Everything is fine until you reach that Christmas time,” he said. “[Matches on the] 26 and 28 is still not right but we have to accept that. We do that and its tradition and I get there but it’s not getting better,” Klopp added.

It appears the Premier League powers that be have finally listened, and the Liverpool boss has been proven right once again. He was also strongly behind allowing five substitutes in matches at a time when other top leagues in Europe permitted them but English football did not.

The football world is driven by money and is obsessed with playing more and more matches, not fewer. Yet all it achieves is injury crises at multiple clubs and lower quality matches played by exhausted players. If only the Premier League listened to Klopp and made changes to protect footballers far more swiftly than it has done so here.