17 Feb 2017

Reward for Failure: Why Liverpool's players don't deserve mid-season jolly to La Manga

Do Liverpool's players deserve what basically amounts to a mid-season holiday to sunny La Manga?

Bar one good performance against Spurs, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool's pampered, obscenely well paid players have utterly failed to do their jobs since the turn of the year:

* 2 wins in 11 games, with one of those coming against League two opposition.

* Defeats against relegation fodder (Hull and Swansea City).

* Home defeat against Wolves, who are hovering dangerously close to the Championship relegation zone.

* Dumped out of two cup competitions, and a steep drop from 2nd to 6th (and then 5th) in the Premier League table.

And the reward for this? A 5-day jolly to a sunny seaside resort in Spain. Nice work if you can get it!

Why do Liverpool need to spend what probably amounts to hundreds of thousands of pounds to travel across Europe to train? The players don't deserve a mid-season holiday - they should be busting a gut on the training ground at Melwood, but instead, they're basically being rewarded for failure.

What kind of message does this La Manga trip send? Hey guys! Play badly, underperform, and blow up Liverpool's season and we'll...fly you to an upscale resort to leisurely ponce about on bikes, poses for smiley publicity shots, and post risible photos on Instagram. Seriously, after the mid-season capitulation, do Liverpool really think fans want to see headlines like 'On your bike: Reds arrive in style for training' or read stories about how the players are having fun cycling to work, and jumping into the pool after 6-a-side games?

It shouldn't take an undeserved holiday for Klopp to build team spirit, and if the players can't motivate themselves without being bought off with sun, sand, and sangria, then it just underlines the weak mentality of the squad. As Reds legend Jan Molby noted:

"I never know with these things, to be honest. When teams decide to go where the weather is better, does it really matter?".

The answer is: No. It doesn't matter, and if Liverpool players need mid-season holidays to perk up their performances, then there's a serious problem somewhere. What if the Liverpool were in Europe this season, and still in the cups - there'd be no time to jet off in the middle of the season, and Klopp would have to actually do his job in Liverpool. Heaven forbid he has keep things together without swanning off to Spain.

To be honest, it makes me sick.


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