Sam Allardyce has urged Liverpool fans to stop stressing about the team’s pre-season form ahead of the new Premier League season.
The experienced manager offered words of comfort for Reds supporters after their nightmare pre-season continued with a 3-0 trouncing against Napoli in a glamour friendly for Scottish fans at Murrayfield on Sunday.
It was the Champions League winners’ fourth defeat on the spin to European competition, having failed to win a game since going on their tour of the United States.
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Jurgen Klopp’s side began their preparations for the new campaign in fine style with a 6-0 and 3-1 wins over Tranmere Rovers and Bradford City, after which the manager admitted he was bra
But he will have had little good to say about their performances since then, having suffered defeats to Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla and a draw with Sporting Lisbon in USA before losing to Napoli in Scotland.
It’s a worrying run of form for the Reds, who are still without key attacking trio Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino and goalkeeper Alisson after their busy summers at the Copa America and Africa Cup of Nations.
Left-back Andy Robertson revealed captain Jordan Henderson and vice-skipper James Milner delivered a post-match rollicking after the Napoli match, saying they were ‘miles off the pace’, were ‘outplayed’ and made to look ‘foolish’ by the Italian side.
And fans are worried what their pre-season form means for the start of the new season, which kicks off with the Community Shield against Manchester City on August 4 before their Premier League opener against Norwich on Friday 9.
However, Big Sam has told them not to read too much into their pre-season results as the players’ fitness is more important than the scoresheet.
“Pre-season results never troubled me that much,” he told talkSPORT’s Sports Breakfast on Monday.
“It’s always more about the fitness of the players more than the results. Too many people outside of the club read too much into results in pre-season, that’s one of the big problems.
“The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter what really happens in those games, it’s what happens in the first game of the season.
“Way back in the early Bolton days we started our new season in the premier league by not winning a pre-season game and then went about eight games undefeated at the start of the season.
“People can read a lot into it, but it’s about preparing your players for the start of the season.”
Allardyce also sided with Liverpool boss Klopp and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after both complained about the mounting football schedule a which has seen some of their players have only as few weeks off this summer due to international tournaments and pre-season tours.
“Pre-season games now are a problem for managers more than they ever were,” Big Sam added.
“They get three or four weeks off and then they go straight into tournament where they travel across the world, like Liverpool do, and that’s all about making money.
“Pre-season as we used to know it, that doesn’t happen anymore.
“Players come back, have three or four days and then they’re off across the world playing games, I think it’s more about the money than getting the team ready for the start of the season.”