Each season, it is well known that premier league managers have the penchant for complaining about various things – both the ones they can control and the ones they can’t.
However, next January, they will have one less reason to grumble.
Once every two years, various English clubs face a mid-season issue – which is the Africa Cup of Nations.
But due to a change in rules, premier league managers will begin to smile when January comes.
While various continental tournaments are being held every four years (and are being fixed during the summer period), the AFCON takes place every two years in January.
But last summer, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) chose to shift the tournament to the summer to enable African players that are overseas concentrate fully on club duties.
The decision have brought the Africa Cup of Nations in line with the European Championships and the Copa America.
This is good news for Liverpool in particular, as manager Jurgen Klopp won’t have to deal with the issue of losing vital players for up to a month when January comes.
If the rules hadn’t changed, the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita would have jetted off to Cameroon to represent their countries in next year’s edition of the tournament.
