Gini Wijnaldum voices his concerns about ‘difficult’ training
Liverpool star Gini Wijnaldum has voiced his concerns.
Premier League clubs are going through a difficult period at the moment as fixture congestion means there’s little time to do much training in between games.
Let’s take Liverpool for example, which is handy because this is a Liverpool website. Jurgen Klopp has led his men through four fixtures in two weeks – Atalanta last Wednesday, Brighton in the early kick-off on Saturday, Ajax on Tuesday and Wolves on Sunday.
In between travel to and from games, this will have meant the manager and his staff would have had precious little time to work on anything at training.
Their focus would have been rest, recovery and making sure the warriors can get their battered bodies through another 90 minutes without any casualties.
Just how rare that is, and how brutal this campaign has been, is reflected in the numbers. It’s rare that Liverpool gets through a full match without someone pulling up lame. Naby Keita failed to make it past the hour mark against Atalanta, James Milner picked up a hamstring problem a few days later while Alisson Becker did the same in-between Brighton and Ajax.
Which is why it makes sense when Gini Wijnaldum has spoken about one thing that concerns him about training. Team Talk found an interview he conducted in the Netherlands with FC Update, in which he spoke about the crazy schedule.
"“I hope I can hold on until the end of the season. That’s going to be very difficult, but I’m confident. It’s really just playing matches and resting at the moment, there’s not really any training because there’s not a lot of time for that.”"
As Klopp’s midfield options have become fewer and fewer, it’s been up to Wijnaldum to keep playing and keep putting his body on the line. The former Newcastle United man is incredibly durable, but even he must be due a rest soon.
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Jordan Henderson has been brought back into the side as he’s recovered from an injury picked up on international duty, but we’re still waiting for good news about Thiago, Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.