Liverpool boss Klopp doubles down on his "hate" for the international break

Jurgen Klopp has doubled down on his previous criticisms of international breaks by claiming he "hates" them.

Many of Klopp's players returned to training in the later part of this week after being away on international duty with their respective countries.

Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season in the game before the international hiatus when David Moyes' West Ham beat them 3-2 at the London Stadium in the Premier League.

The Liverpool boss has never been the biggest fan of international breaks and Klopp made his feelings known again ahead of his side's all-important clash with Arsenal on Saturday.

Klopp has several injuries to contend with, with both Jordan Henderson and Andy Robertson doubtful for the contest at Anfield.

"I hate international breaks and it didn't help with the injuries," said Klopp. "The break was not helpful, I would have loved to have played the week after (West Ham).

"(International) coaches have their own targets and very often think they have to do physical work with the players. The break was not helpful.

"Hendo and Robbo have not trained with the team yet. It will be pretty close — a late decision."

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And Klopp's latest comments are not the first time the Liverpool boss has been outspoken on the matter.

In September, Klopp said he was concerned about his team's schedule following a previous international break, and called for more flexibility around fixture selection.

"There must be a solution because we cannot just leave it like this, it is a problem," Klopp said. "I know that the decisive people are working on that but there's nothing decided yet as far as I'm concerned.

"We have a problem anyway when the Brazilians go on the next international break, and I expect them to go,'' said Klopp.

"We have a 12.30 kick-off at Watford. I think the game in Brazil is at 1.30am on Friday.

"Obviously nobody thought about that yet and it's a Liverpool problem, not a problem for anybody else.

"It's good for Watford and all these kinds of things, but I just don't know how you can do these things and nobody reacts on the schedule.

"The schedule is always a problem but it's like the TV guys and the Premier League just say 'OK, that's how it is, they have to play'.

"Let's have a look at how we can sort that. It's another thing that's not good for the players and not good for the clubs as well.

"I hope that the government comes up with a solution."

Klopp also discussed his Anfield future and admitted he was impressed by Steven Gerrard's first press conference after taking the managerial post at Aston Villa.

Although Gerrard never played under Klopp, the Liverpool boss helped convince him to take up a role with the club's academy when he began his coaching career in 2017.

"Wow! I thought Stevie said a lot of nice things, and really smart things. I watched the press conference and it was incredibly good," Klopp added.

"I don't have to think about these kinds of things at the moment, thank God, because we are in the middle of this season and that's all that we are focused on.

"No other manager gets asked that often about things that are happening in two-and-a-half years, three years or four years…

"I didn't think about it until you asked me now, and I don't want to think about it. It's all fine how it is.

"It's over when it's over, but it's far away from being over, so let's focus on that."