Jürgen Klopp on Lack of Recovery Time, Preparing for Manchester United

On Saturday, Liverpool beat Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final, granting the Reds a berth in the final against Chelsea on May 14th and with it a chance at their second piece of silverware in a season where they could end up winning four major trophies. That silverware is the obvious upside.

The downside is that having won the League Cup and still being in the running for the FA Cup, Premier League, and Champions League means no time for rest, no time for recovery, and no real downtime for Jürgen Klopp’s players who find themselves in midst of an exceptionally busy run.

“I would prefer always to have time to properly recover and prepare but that’s wishful thinking,” Klopp said. “As long as you are successful you will never have the time. For three or four teams it is the same. For United they played Norwich on Saturday and will not have had time to prepare.”

United may not have much time to prepare this time around, but for the most part they haven’t had the mid-week fixtures the Reds have after being knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid in March and the FA Cup by Middlesborough all the way back at the start of February.

They do, however, face pressure in the league that isn’t that dissimilar from Klopp’s Reds, having clawed their way back into the thick of the top four fight. They currently sit fifth, level on points with Arsenal and three back of a surging Tottenham, with Chelsea for now five clear in third.

“To be around fourth in the Premier League means that you are a quality side with all the opponents you have,” the Liverpool manager added “It’s madness the consistency you need to get close. Tottenham are flying at the moment, Chelsea are so strong, and United are in that group as well.”