West Ham United coach and former England international defender Stuart Pearce has disagreed with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp over the congested fixture list.
Stuart Pearce said: “I have no problem with Boxing Day, that is a wonderful game, nobody wants to cancel that. It’s just the 26th and 28th – it’s absolutely impossible. It’s a joke that they still do it. It’s no problem to play the 26th and 29th – where is the problem?”
Speaking on Thursday, Pearce was asked about the festive schedule and said West Ham have different feelings towards this intense period.
Stuart Pearce said: “We don’t bother doing that (moaning about fixtures) at our club. The game fixtures are the game fixtures. You know it’s tight on some teams. Two games in three days, you know, it is what it is. We’ve done it since we were kids anyway. In my time I can remember playing back-to-back, a game one day and one game the next day. It is what it is. It’s not going to change. I don’t think it sends a great message out to players to turn around and moan about it. I’d rather just get on with it and say, ‘look, we’re in as strong a place as anybody to deal with fixtures as they are’.”
Liverpool ‘s festive workload has already been reduced, as it was confirmed on Thursday that their Boxing Day clash has been postponed due to an influx of Covid-19 cases for opponents Leeds United.