Perhaps Jurgen Klopp may be feeling punchy after avoiding criticism for his peculiar behaviour at the weekend, as he became the latest Anfield employee to launch an unprovoked swipe at Manchester United.
Last week Steven Gerrard was critical of Paul Pogba and now Klopp has had his say on the reports of a fall out after the Manchester derby.
After a team selection which screamed over-confidence against Everton, the Liverpool boss was left enraged when the Toffees snatched a draw with a late penalty. Klopp first berated a Sky reporter, saying he ‘only wanted to talk to someone who understood football’, and was then left humiliated at the wider press conference later when he asked reporters to put their hands up if they thought it was a deserved penalty, only for the majority to do so.
Despite this, the Manchester derby took the major billing on Sunday and Klopp has escaped relatively unscathed. Jose Mourinho has faced a backlash from press for how the game went and then for his behaviour after the game; the United manager confronted City’s players, who he felt were behaving unprofessionally, only to be then pelted with drinks.
Klopp, speaking ahead of Liverpool’s game with West Brom (a game Liverpool infamously drew two years ago with Klopp leading his players to celebrate in front of the game), said : “We’ve had one or two draws at home and I’ve heard loud music from the other side. I’ve got no problem with that. Everything is allowed as long as you show the right amount of respect.”
It was an amusing show of hypocrisy but from the safety of his bunker, with no-one to criticise him, Klopp can clearly say and do as he likes. Perhaps he should take his own advice about showing respect.
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