Gabbett defends Liverpool training approach
Australian sports scientist Tim Gabbett and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
Written by Simon Austin — May 14, 2017
LEADING sports scientist Tim Gabbett has defended Liverpool’s approach to training after Raymond Verheijen described it as a ‘mess’.
Former Wales assistant Verheijen was responding after Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said Chelsea had been ‘lucky’ not to suffer more injuries this season.
“The comments of Jurgen Klopp calling Chelsea lucky means he still not understanding what he himself is doing wrong and he is trying to distract attention from the mess he has created,” Verheijen told Talksport on Friday.
"On the one hand Klopp wants his players to play with maximum tempo and on the other hand he wants them to do it two or three times a day in training and is exhausting them and running them into the ground.
“The most important thing for a coach to understand is that they themselves are the number one reason for injuries and this has been well documented."
However, Gabbett, who has worked with Chelsea, Barcelona and the Football Association, responded: “There's a lot of hype around injuries in the Premier League. Are players training too hard? Are they not training hard enough?
“In my opinion, coaches get a lot of unfair criticism from people on the sidelines, who definitely won't have access to all the facts.
“In Jurgen Klopp's case, he is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. He can under-train his players, and they ‘break’ in matches because they aren't prepared.
“Or, he can train them hard so that they can thrive in competition. I know what approach I would take.”
