'At one point' - Jurgen Klopp sympathises with Chelsea's troubled start to season | OneFootball

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has commented on the Club World Cup and its impact on Chelsea's start to the season.

The list of injured Chelsea players has now grown to nine after the addition of Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, as well as the trio of Moises Caicedo, Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos, who had small problems ahead of Tuesday's match against Benfica.

This puts Chelsea at the top of the list with the most extensive injury issues in the Premier League, alongside Tottenham Hotspur.

Some bad luck might have played a part, but Klopp believes that the Club World Cup shares some of the blame.

IMAGO / NurPhoto

"Did I read this morning that Chelsea have an injury crisis? Maybe they would have had injuries (anyway)," the German told The Athletic when speaking about the Club World Cup.

"My expertise is I know how much you can expect from football players. I know about intensity in training.

"We always ask for more. We go, go, go. I don’t doubt it was a great tournament. I didn’t watch it.

"Chelsea were super happy to win it. Great, a lot of money.

IMAGO / Sports Press Photo

"But at one point, we have to take care of the few people this game would not exist without; the players.

“There’s no solution besides stopping organising new tournaments in the summer break. There’s no break anymore for the best players in the world.

"You wouldn’t do this in any other part of life. Imagine you put the best artist out every night until they fall down, and then we say sorry, he lost focus…"

IMAGO / Martin Dalton

The fact that the Premier League refused to give Chelsea a delayed start to their season has not helped either.

Putting an end to summer tournaments such as the Club World Cup, like Klopp suggested, seems very unlikely, though, considering the revenue stream the participating clubs earn from this competition.

Reducing the size of the tournament or better planning around the schedule could at least be a positive step.

For now, all Chelsea and Enzo Maresca can do is reduce the workload of the key players while still trying to win games, which they have had some difficulty implementing in the last few weeks.