Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp slams England boss Gareth Southgate for playing Jordan Henderson for 90 minutes in Lithuania on plastic pith

  • Jordan Henderson has been hampered by a heel problem in the past
  • The Liverpool midfielder played every minute of England's last two matches
  • Reds boss Jurgen Klopp unhappy he played after England made the World Cup

Jurgen Klopp has criticised England's handling of Jordan Henderson and said his inclusion in the team to play Lithuania 'made no sense'.

Liverpool's captain played all 180 minutes of the World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania, with the second game in Vilinius having nothing riding on the outcome as England's passage to Russia next summer had already been secured.

Klopp was dealt a huge blow during the international break when Sadio Mane suffered a grade two hamstring tear playing for Senegal against The Cape Verde Islands, which means he will miss 10 games but Liverpool's manager was relieved Henderson did not join Mane on the sidelines.

Jurgen Klopp was not pleased to see Jordan Henderson play for England in Lithuania

Jurgen Klopp was not pleased to see Jordan Henderson play for England in Lithuania

Henderson played 90 minutes on an artificial pitch despite England already qualifying

Henderson played 90 minutes on an artificial pitch despite England already qualifying

Henderson has endured a difficult two years with a number of injury problems and Klopp believes Gareth Southgate took a gamble with the 27-year-old's fitness when asking to play on a plastic pitch.


'England played a friendly game on an artificial surface – it was a qualification game but they had already qualified – and I was not happy that Hendo was on the pitch to be honest with all the problems he's had in the past,' Klopp said. 'It made no sense. 

'We cannot be involved in this. The all make their own decisions. No manager of a national team asked me so far before a game 'How would you line up?'.' 

Regarding Mane's absence, Klopp was confident it would not derail his team.

'Obviously we can still play football without Sadio as we have had to do this in the past - much more than we would have wanted. 

Sadio Mane could miss 10 Liverpool matches after injuring his hamstring with Senegal

Sadio Mane could miss 10 Liverpool matches after injuring his hamstring with Senegal

'He is the highest-quality player and was very unlucky with injury. A lot of players in this international break from different teams had injuries – it is a big problem with change of training, different rhythm. That is always a problem and you hope nothing will happen. 

'On this occasion it was Sadio but no-one else. We can play without him even if we would love to have him in the line-up.'

 

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