Liverpool news: Philippe Coutinho injury prompts criticism of Jurgen Klopp's training methods
Raymond Verheijen, the outspoken coach and former Wales assistant manager, has repeated his critcisms of Klopp's methods
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jurgen Klopp’s training methods have been criticised once again by Raymond Verheijen after it emerged that Philippe Coutinho is suffering from a new hamstring problem.
The Brazilian playmaker’s injury, which is only believed to be minor, could put him out of contention for Liverpool's trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Coutinho’s problem was described as “not a big issue” by Klopp in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
Verheijen, however, believes the injury is further evidence that Liverpool’s players carry ‘accumulated fatigue’ from Klopp’s intensive training sessions.
The former Wales assistant manager believes this fatigue makes Klopp’s squad prone to injury.
“Liverpool players carry pre-season fatigue into season,” he tweeted. “Accumulated fatigue makes players vulnerable in top games. It's like Russian roulette.”
After describing Coutinho’s problem as ‘very predictable’, Verheijen went on to warn Klopp against playing the 24-year-old at White Hart Lane.
20
Number of hamstring injuries suffered by Liverpool players since Klopp's appointment
“One thing is for sure: If Klopp does risk Coutinho tomorrow against Spurs there is a very big chance that he could be out for 6-8 weeks.”
Verheijen also pointed out, via retweeting another user, that Liverpool have suffered 20 hamstring injuries since Klopp’s appointment last October.
According to the injury aggregator PhysioRoom.com, these 20 injuries have been accrued over a period of just ten months.
By contrast, the club’s previous 20 hamstring problems were spread over a four-year period.
Verheijen made the same claim about Coutinho’s ‘accumulation of fatigue’ during Liverpool’s opening game against Arsenal.
When Coutinho came off the pitch with an apparent injury during the second half, Verheijen again attributed the issue to Klopp’s training methods.
The club, however, later claimed that Coutinho had merely suffered from cramp.
In December last year, Verheijen correctly predicted that Liverpool would run into an injury crisis around the turn of the new year.
Liverpool were without 11 players in total at the peak of their problems in early January, with six of those players suffering from a hamstring injury.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments