Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp Photo: VCG

"How can you expect players to perform to the best of their ability when you send them out at 12:30 pm?" was the question on Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's lips after the club's comeback win over Everton last weekend.  

"Absolute joke," he added by way of his opinion of the English Premier League schedulers that put his team in Saturday's early kickoff after playing away in Turkey against Super Lig champions Basaksehir on Wednesday night.

"A month ago we tried to move this game. What sense is there for us to play on a Saturday when we could play on the Sunday and there is an international break afterward?" the Norwegian continued, clearly incensed.

It was with good reason. 

England left back Luke Shaw was already injured at that point immediately after the game, and since then United have confirmed two more injuries to Marcus Rashford and Victor Lindelof.

"I can't say enough how hard these times are for everyone," Solskjaer said. "Not just footballers, and we want to see football with quality.

"Our players were set up to fail today with the schedule. I pushed my club to really fight the kickoff time on this one to give us at least half a chance, but it was quashed."

Thick and fast

In a strange turn of events the next day saw United's greatest rivals meet in Manchester where Pep Guardiola's City side took on Juergen Klopp's champions Liverpool.

That game was between two teams who had played their UEFA Champions League games on Tuesday night and had two more days rest by playing Sunday evening.

Still, the managers were in agreement with their United counterpart about the games coming too thick and fast in general this season - and after a stunted season break.

"Ole was right," said Klopp after watching his side draw 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium. "If the Tuesday teams are in contention now for the Saturday [lunch-time match], that's okay. But the Wednesday teams should not even be in consideration for that game, just not.

"We played after the last international break at 12:30 at Everton," Klopp added about a Merseyside derby that ended in a draw and saw him lose defensive talisman Virgil van Dijk for the season.

"On the Wednesday night, some of my players were in Peru. Then we played at 12:30 [on Saturday]. These kinds of things should not happen," the German continued.

"I understand 100 percent the needs of television, 100 percent. It's completely normal that you play Saturday, it's the 12:30 which is the killer. We have to find solutions because it's tough this year. This intensity is really difficult. We want to play football 100 percent with all we have - we need to play football, it's great for the people. But [playing on] Wednesday night and 12:30 [Saturday] should not be allowed."

Guardiola was in agreement, too.

"Today, the right back for the England team is injured," the City head coach said after the draw, in which Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold went off injured.

"Lebron James won the NBA title and will then go on holiday for two months, three months. These guys [our players] had two weeks.

"Will they change with Juergen, myself, Ole? Of course not. And the national team in England now doesn't play with their full back."

Solskjaer had more to say, in the aftermath of the Everton game.

"It's such a serious issue. They're not robots, they're human. They're asked to perform and you know the intensity of the game. You can see toward the end, we didn't have the intensity in our game because of tired legs, tired minds.

"In the second half, you can see we went into survival mode - hanging onto the result. What can we do? Sit back, take a deep breath and look at the scheduling and use common sense.

"We want this product to be the best in the world and it is at times and it's so exciting, but we don't want it to harm any player. These times are so difficult for everyone in the world - not just football, in life in general - and we need to look after everyone."

Five subs 

Klopp and Guardiola once again called for five subs to be reintroduced as it was in the Premier League's "Project Restart" but that was shot down by smaller clubs ahead of this new season. 

It is a rule that is unlikely to change, according to league chief Richard Masters, in an appearance midweek in front of the UK government's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

"We've had two votes on it at club level and both have been relatively conclusively supportive of three subs, which has been the historic model. That has created some frustration in the system, which you are seeing. "You can see why it is an issue for debate, particularly if you are, in Juergen and Pep's case, competing in Europe.

"There's a real issue there and it has been discussed at length. I don't foresee it changing in the foreseeable future."
Newspaper headline: Insult to injury