Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp vents his frustration. AFP Photo
Paul Kennedy
My love of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp knows no bounds. Or so I thought.
There’s little I don’t like about the German. I like his style, I like his passion, and most of all, I like what he has done to my football club.
When he became Liverpool manager eight years ago, he pledged to turn the supporters from ‘doubters to believers’ and I hung onto his every word like a devoted follower of the Lord Almighty. He was my new Messiah and I worshipped the ground he walked on.
He’s a bit mad, for sure, and I like that. All good managers in the past have been on the edge of genius and insanity.
Bill Shankly, the former Liverpool boss, was top-class, but also as mad as a box of frogs. Brian Clough, who some argue was the greatest ever English manager, was also a complete fruitcake.
And more recently Jose Mourinho, who once after he was banned from entering Stamford Bridge allegedly smuggled himself in by hiding inside a linen basket.
Klopp is certainly bonkers enough to be mentioned in the same sentences as these legends of bygone days.
But I don’t think anyone can argue with me, when I say that against Tottenham Hotspur last week, he never just crossed the line, but leapt over it headfirst performing a triple somersault to boot.
If you missed it, after Liverpool grabbed a winner with virtually the last kick of the game, Jurgen sprinted full throttle toward the assistant referee to give him a piece of his mind.
And this wasn’t a calculated constructive criticism kind of conversation. Klopp let him have it with both barrels.
He even pulled a hamstring in his mad dash to reach the referee.
After the game, he also had a pop at match official Paul Tierney, for which he has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association.
I get, probably more than most, that football, particularly for Liverpool supporters, can be emotional.
And netting a last-gasp winner is enough to send you into a frenzy, particularly if you are the manager on the touchline believing everything has gone against your team up to that point.
But I’m sorry to say Mr Klopp, your reaction was too much, and whatever punishment is handed down to you, you need to just suck it up.
By contrast, in the early hours of yesterday morning when Liverpool played, and beat, Fulham at home, Jurgen was on his best behaviour. He had to be.
Chances are he’ll be banned from the dugout for a number of games, maybe even until the end of the season, depending on how tough the FA wants to be.
There was talk of a points deduction imposed on Liverpool, but I doubt that will happen.
Jurgen does need to think about his actions. He can’t react the way he did last Sunday again.
You need to change Mr Klopp… but from a Liverpool supporter’s point of view, just a little bit. Don’t change too much.
OVietnam