Jurgen Klopp has explained why Liverpool jetted off on a mid-season break to Dubai - as he issued a message to the Premier League and FA over the winter fixture pile up.

Liverpool flew out to Dubai after their hard-fought 2-1 win over Everton in the third round of the FA Cup and then became the first side to defeat Manchester City in the Premier League this season in a pulsating 4-3 victory at Anfield.

Klopp says that Liverpool were in dire need of a break after an ‘unbelievably intense period’ over Christmas - but believes that all sides would benefit from a longer break in the winter.

“Look, for us it was always clear. The first moment we have the opportunity to give the boys a few days somewhere else, we would do it immediately. You have to do it after the unbelievably intense period,” he said.

“In the last two years we couldn’t do it, we were always in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. This year, there is nothing good to say about going out of the Carabao Cup other than you don’t have to play two games in a moment when everybody is pretty much on the edge.

“Using that time was clear, but will it make a difference? If you do the four days right and everything else wrong, then it will make no difference.

“I think it was right, and to be honest the German (winter) break this year was not really long. They had, I think, seven, eight, nine days maybe – but then they have kind of a pre-season, and that makes the difference.

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“Now we have our pre-season. We have two weeks with six or seven training sessions, which is very important. We can remind ourselves and give information for different games – with City it was really important that we could train before the game, and now we can prepare for Swansea, which is important.

“I was pleased to give the boys these few days. You learn about England pretty quickly. With the FA Cup at weekends, you have to look and think ‘where can we cut the time?’ to give weekends off? If you are involved, you have to play, if you are not then you have the weekend off, right?"

(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Klopp believes that fans and TV companies would reap the benefits of a longer break as players would be able to perform at a higher level.

The Reds boss believes that FA Cup matches could be played in midweek to allow the season to finish earlier or start later.

He said: “Today, we started to have a look at the schedule after the World Cup. England starts two weeks earlier than Germany! Maybe in Germany they think they will be in the final? I have no idea.

“You look and you think ‘wow!’ another two weeks. We start around August 13. One week earlier, if we win the FA Cup, we could be playing (Community Shield). That means that when the World Cup ends, the only time the boys could really have a holiday, you should give them three weeks at least, and you play before they come back. Wow!

“Everybody looks at how many international players we have, but when do you give them any rest? How can they deliver? Two weeks after next season starts we will stand here again and you will ask me ‘why did he play like he played?’ and I will say it’s because he had no time off since....1960-something!

“There’s a moment when somebody has to say ‘please, don’t forget the players in all of this.’ It’s not about me. I have enough holidays, and I could do what I do, 365 days a year. But I don’t have to play, and that’s a big difference.

“If you really want to keep the level up, the quality high, then please, you have to think about it. And don’t tell me that there is an opportunity now, because we have two weekends with the FA Cup.

“You could cut those games, play them in midweek or whatever, and then we could stop the season earlier or start next season later. But nobody is doing it, at one point we have to start doing something...”