Jurgen Klopp has refused to alter his stance on Liverpool’s FA Cup replay with Shrewsbury.
Klopp confirmed that the Reds will field of under-23 players in next week’s tie against the League One side with youth coach Neil Critchley taking charge.
The German and his first-team squad are set to miss the Anfield encounter in accordance with the Premier League’s guidelines on its new winter break.
His plans have been widely criticised with Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt branding him ’embarrassing’ and accusing him of ‘killing the FA Cup’.
But Klopp explained why his position remained unchanged on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the runaway leaders’ trip to West Ham United.
“I decided three weeks ago we would have a mid-season break based on a letter we got in April 2019,” said the Liverpool manager.
“I don’t want to be in the middle of these discussions. If people think I am lazy because I am not there, I cannot change that and I’m not interested.
“I just feel responsible for my players. If we find a way to play it then nothing will change and we have to change it. I am not a revolutionary guy.
“My responsibility is to my players. If we react like we always react – ‘okay we have to do it’ – nothing will change and everyone in football agrees something has to change.”
This is the second time that Klopp has faced a selection dilemma, with Liverpool contesting Club World Cup and Carabao Cup semi-finals in 24 hours.
Critchley took charge of the European champions’ youthful team which lost 6-0 at Aston Villa a day before the senior squad faced Monterrey in Qatar.
He added: “The associations brought us in the situation in December ‘do we play Carabao Cup or Club World Cup?’ and we have to make a decision.
“Why? People are asking us to play Aston Villa because nobody in England thought it was important to be here.
“If we had sent the kids to the Club World Cup, it would have been a massive mistake it was a really big tournament for everyone else apart from England and maybe Germany.”
Asked about potential solutions to FA Cup replays, Klopp replied: “I have no idea.
“I said what I said, other people find explanations, I don’t want to find excuses. The clubs involved have to think differently.
“I have said this a lot of times. In 2021 we have a Copa America and another European competitions, we now have a bigger Club World Cup.
“I constantly have to talk about this, if we don’t have a discussion then there is a bigger Champions League, here is another game.
“We are part of the club, we want to play football as often as possible but that is the key word – possible. All the big sports have breaks.
“In America have four months and nobody knows where they are. Here, it is constantly playing throughout and the players cannot do that, it limits careers and performance levels.”
Should they overcome Shrewsbury in their fourth-round replay, Liverpool face an away meeting with Chelsea in the next stage of the competition.