Though he can be quite outspoken and spiky if he needs to be, Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, appears to be generally well-liked by the media pack who bombard him with questions pre and post-match for their various organisations.
The German makes great television simply because his answers are never monotone or boring and he’ll happily go off on a tangent whilst making a point.
Not for him the media trained nonsense that players spout week in and week out. Klopp is happy to say it how it is, come what may.
Sometimes that’s seen him on the wrong side of the FA but part of his appeal is his honesty and forthrightness.
However, he might have finally overstepped the mark, certainly as far as some in the media are concerned.
The furore surrounding the disallowed Luis Diaz goal at the weekend against Tottenham Hotspur is still making headlines, even more so now as Klopp hinted in a press conference that perhaps a replay would be the solution.
That’s been given short shrift by Sky Sports’ Gary Neville and Times Sport’s Chief Football Writer, Henry Winter.
You can’t replay the game. Every manager would then call for replays. That way madness lies. Jurgen Klopp has done so much for English football: the drama, joy and success of his football, bond with his players and fans, nurturing talent. But calling for a replay is ridiculous.
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) October 4, 2023
???!! Can’t believe how Liverpool have grabbed defeat from victory in their handling of this ! They were wronged by a shocking mistake.End of! https://t.co/O47oT7gvlw
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) October 4, 2023
Both took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their opposition to Klopp’s point of view, and they’re unlikely to be alone in their thinking.
Whilst the error made by the officials was an horrendous one, it was a genuine human mistake. Calling for a replay would set a ridiculous precedent.
“Heavyweight media personalities”, isn’t that an oxmoron? Who care what they think, if they think at all?
I don’t feel a replay will happen, but who actually cares what Neville and Winter have to say, both write and spout out rubbish all the time.
Something needs to be done, blaming human error is an easy way out, the FA and refs need to take responsibility for their actions.
Maybe they should be fined by the clubs, that would focus their minds a bit more.
In the heat of the moment mistakes happen, I’m quite relaxed with that, but situations like this should not happen.
My solutions would be:
1. Mike up the refs, make it very clear what they are doing and why.
2. Fine the FA and refs for their mistakes, I can guarantee they will improve.
3. Protect officials by making it a RED for swearing at officials.
4. Only the team Captains can approach the ref, but again with respect.
If man united got a VAR pen after the final whistle against Brighton…they say VAR was looking at the pen before the whistle….but VAR was looking at the VAR decision of a disallowed goal before the replay started between Liverpool v Spurs….what’s the difference???…listen to the audio?…this is not right nor is it correct the way Liverpool FC have been treated here!…it stinks to be quite frank….