Jurgen Klopp is not killing the FA Cup but Premier League’s aristocracy will not mourn its eventual death

Jurgen Klopp is not to blame for killing the FA Cup but there is no doubt that his decision to skip the fourth round replay against Shrewsbury Town represents the Premier League elite’s view of the competition

Jurgen Klopp will skip the FA Cup fourth round replay against Shrewsbury Town (Getty)

Jurgen Klopp is not killing the FA Cup. The Liverpool manager has provoked another debate on the future of the world’s oldest knockout competition with his decision that the Premier League’s midwinter break will take precedence over the fourth-round replay against Shrewsbury Town next week.

‘Debate’ is probably the wrong word. On one side there have been howls of outrage from those who despise Liverpool and on the other ‘my-club-right-or-wrong’ mindless backing for Klopp from supporters of the league leaders. The outrage is almost comedic. If Pep Guardiola had acted in this manner, Kopites would be scandalised. They would claim he was ruining the game. Manchester City supporters would put forward all the arguments espoused by Liverpool fans. Malignant hypocrisy runs through the heart of the game.

Klopp has a point. The workload heaped on players has gnawed away at him for some time. It is not just the number of games; the pace and physicality of the Premier League takes a toll on players.

The 52-year-old should have the right to put out any team he chooses against Shrewsbury. The Football Association’s rules on weakened sides are anachronistic. He should be in the dugout at Anfield, though. Putting Neil Critchley in charge for the replay makes it look like a flounce from Klopp – which is probably exactly the impression he intended to convey.

The problem is, the downgrading of domestic competition outside the Premier League is being normalised. The Super League will not arrive with a bang. It will sneak up on football, the ground laid by numerous situations like this that give the impression that only two competitions are important. How long before even the Premier League will be seen as an inconvenience by the elite?

The creeping dismantling of the English game is under way. Pep Guardiola has called for the EFL Cup to be abandoned. It has always been an ugly stepchild of a competition but who exactly would rather not play in it? The very clubs who spend July and early August chasing around the world playing in big-money friendlies instead of preparing their players properly for a long hard season, that’s who. Squad welfare is down the list of priorities when there’s income at stake.

The EFL Cup’s prize pot is a mere £200,000, with only the winners, losing finalists and beaten semi-finalists getting a share. Aston Villa and Leicester City are not playing for the cash tonight, neither are Manchester City and Manchester United tomorrow. The money is peanuts to Premier League sides.

Disposing of the EFL Cup would not matter to the top clubs but consider Oxford United, who made the quarter-finals this season. Their tie against City was televised and the League One club received £175,000 for TV fees alone. They banked 45 per cent of the gate receipts for five ties, including lucrative games against West Ham United and City. For clubs like Oxford this derided competition can have a huge impact. Does Guardiola care? Of course he doesn’t. Neither does Klopp or anyone connected with English football’s aristocracy – including the supporters. That’s what makes the crocodile tears when clubs like Bury go under so nauseating.

Oxford are still in the FA Cup, have earned more than £300,000 already from their participation and have a sell-out replay against Newcastle United to come. Like Shrewsbury, they dream of progressing to the fifth round not just for the glory but for fiscal reasons. The team from each Football League division that advances farthest gets £250,000. These piddling amounts – in Premier League terms – can help keep lower-league clubs buoyant. In the boardroom at the New Meadow they will be delighted that Klopp is playing the kids. It gives them the chance of earning that extra, performance-related paycheque.

At some point the FA will back down and get rid of replays. It will not matter. It will not stop the rot. Moving the competition to midweek will satisfy the big clubs for a while. The complaints will start again before long, especially when Champions League knockout round ties move to Saturdays, as they surely will.

The financial return from playing in the FA Cup is not worth the effort for clubs who can trouser nearly £100m in television money just by being relegated. The winners at Wembley in May get a mere £3.6m.

How much would it take to turn the heads of the likes of Liverpool and City and restore the prestige of the cup? Upwards of ten times the prize-money would struggle to catch their attention. It is not going to happen.

Cash sets the agenda in football and the Premier League and Champions League bonanza has guaranteed the slow death of the FA Cup. The domestic game is slowly being strangled by a money-belt. It’s the same driving force that demands more and more high-profile televised fixtures and it is running the best players into the ground. Klopp is right to try and protect his squad. The schedule gets more intense every year and players like Harry Kane have more miles on the clock than a 26-year-old should have racked up.

The sport as we know it is in the process of changing beyond recognition. Greed has set an unstoppable series of events in motion. Klopp’s reaction is a symptom rather than a cause but perhaps he is directing his ire at the wrong enemy. He has had another small chip at the status of the FA Cup, a competition that is already undermined at its foundations. If it does collapse – and the domestic game will follow it – Liverpool will be insulated from the effects. Shrewsbury and scores of other clubs across the country will not.