Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said the football world is “guilty” for the amount of players set to miss the World Cup through injury.
A number of high-profile players including Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Diogo Jota and Timo Werner have been ruled out of the tournament through injury, with the tournament starting in Qatar on Nov. 20.
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Premier League stars Son Heung-Min, Reece James, Kyle Walker and Ben Chilwell also run of the risk of missing the World Cup later this month and Klopp hit out at the scheduling of the tournament and said injuries were bound to happen.
“I hate this subject. These problems were so clear and nobody mentioned it for one time until 3-4 weeks before the World Cup,” he told a news conference on Friday.
“This specific problem where players are injured in a season and can’t play in the World Cup is not new. After a long season, it happens everywhere in the world but now, we’re starting the World Cup a week after the last [league] game.