Whelan suggests the real reason Klopp is ‘complaining’ amid new Liverpool twist
Alex McLeish can understand why clubs like Liverpool want to make changes to the League and FA Cups.
However, the former Rangers and Scotland boss, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, doesn’t want to see changes made to either competition.
As per The Times (19 September), Premier League clubs are backing proposals that would see significant changes introduced to the formats of the FA and League Cups.
The new proposals would see FA Cup replays scraped and would give clubs competing in Europe the option to opt-out of competing in the League Cup.
Instead, sides playing in Europe would see their Under-21s compete in the competition.
When asked if he can understand why clubs like Liverpool would back such a proposal, McLeish told Football Insider’s Ben Wild, “Yeah, but it takes the tournament [League Cup] down a peg or two.
“At the end of the day, the competition will be seen as a smaller trophy than some of the others and maybe some semi-big teams will be able to win it.
“Back in the day, everyone was up for it. At Birmingham, we beat a very good Arsenal team in the final and they were desperate to win that.
“It would be a shame to diminish the competition in that way but I can understand the demands that are put on players these days and the manager, someone like Jurgen, becoming concerned.
“With internationals, you are away for 10 days and you play two games. Players are at such a level of fitness and demand now, that’s why the managers are complaining.”
Liverpool won both the FA Cup and League Cup last season.
Their League Cup defence begins against Derby County on 9 November.
In other news, a pundit has issued a ‘big’ Andy Robertson claim after ‘surprise’ Liverpool development.