Should Jurgen Klopp’s Brewdog-style behaviour see him sent to the stands?
Jurgen Klopp dominates the Mailbox after his performance at the weekend, though his outfit might be the biggest problem.
Send your views on this and all subjects to theeditor@football365.com
Klopp should be banned for rest of the season
A quick reminder that Jurgen Klopp was accusing Paul Tierney of bias against Liverpool during a game where a Liverpool player escaped a red card for going in studs-up into an opponent’s actual face… Presumably he was furious that the Spurs player didn’t get sent off for headbutting the underside of Jota’s foot…
Klopp’s behaviour is pretty appalling. Not for the first time he’s gone after Tierney personally, accusing him of personal bias with a level of anger Klopp usually reserves for barmen that skim the head off his pint… He’s trying to effectively create an environment where Tierney cannot be appointed as the match official for future Liverpool games or, at the very least, for the threat of future reprisal from Liverpool’s keyboard warriors if he doesn’t give Klopp the decisions he wants.
Now, all managers get involved in trying to influence referees (Ten Hag talking about Newcastle’s style of play before the cup final springs to mind) but to explicitly and repeatedly slander an individual referee crosses a line – if the tactic succeeds it could ruin Tierney’s career.
Then to compound it by, seemingly, falsely accusing the ref of saying something inappropriate (hilariously forgetting that the ref is recorded)… classy stuff. Incidentally, if it is true that all Tierney said was that Klopp’s yellow should, in Tierney’s opinion, have been a red then (i) how is that inappropriate, given it is literally Tierney’s job to be the arbiter of how such conduct is sanctioned? and (ii) that he only gave a yellow is just evidence of Klopp’s illegal campaign to influence the ref’s decisions is working…
In my view, Klopp shouldn’t be seen on a touchline again this side of the closed season.
Andy (MUFC)
Klopp’s biggest crime
After Liverpool wore their ‘psychedelic’ away shirt the other week a few comments along the lines of “bring back New Balance” were made. It then struck me why Liverpool’s season has been such a clusterf*ck, with Klopp kicking off on numerous occasions (most notably this weekend). It’s Klopp’s outfit. The fella is wearing Nike apparel with Adidas shoes which was never going to end well. And at a club whose fans helped pioneer the whole casuals movement. Never co-brand. Ever.
DF – Fashion Police, Merseyside Branch
Brewdog Millionaire?
Wednesday’s ‘ten times Jurgen Klopp has come across as a bit rum’ piece was oddly reminiscent of a piece posted on LinkedIn in 2020 and 2021 by James Watt, listing his ten biggest mistakes. There is a comparison to be made between Brewdog’s main man and the Liverpool manager: both are apparently incredibly charming company, but not all of the time and not to everybody; there is a huge difference in the experience of being in their good books and their bad books; they seem to be caught between wanting to be the underdog, taking on any and all comers no matter how trivial the issue, and a major player, where they have to rise above that sort of thing; they have a large and devoted following who will insist their man is infallible and that the problem is in fact you, for making them angry, not them for overreacting.
Watt deserves a modicum of credit for owning his mistakes, as does Klopp for the moments of genuine contrition that followed some entries on his list. However, in both cases, perhaps the most valid criticism is that very few of their respective peers have so many to choose from.
Ed Quoththeraven
Head injuries are a serious matter
I finally got around to watching the highlights from the weekend, and a couple of things about Spurs-Liverpool stood out to me.
Firstly, Spurs were absolutely shocking in the first half hour. Hardly surprising, we’ve been shocking for large swathes of basically every game this season. The difference today was that Ryan Mason made a tactical switch that seemed to genuinely work. I am not by any means saying he is ready to be Spurs’ manager full time, but it bodes well for his prospects as a manager that he can identify and solve these problems where they come up.
Secondly, the potential red card incidents. Skipp’s follow through on Diaz was nasty and he got away with one there. With what we’ve seen from VAR this season, it looked like one of those where whatever the ref decided was going to stand. How the ref decided it was nothing at all is a mystery, but there we go. But Jota should absolutely have seen red. A boot high enough and so out of control as to draw blood from the skull of a standing opponent is not safe and cannot be argued. And amid people criticising Mason for reacting harshly to this, I’ve not seen anyone mention that his own playing career was ended by a boot to the skull. Perhaps seeing a brightly talented Spurs academy midfielder take a bad hit to the brain pan might be a bit of a trigger for him?
Anyway, all things considered it was a great game and absolutely gutting to see it end like that. But thank god Stellini is gone.
Harry, THFC
Money has made the whole Premier League stronger
Adidasmufc is confused. The Premier League isn’t “at its poorest level in recent memory” because ‘The big 6’ are comfortably finishing in those positions, miles ahead of the rest. No – it’s at a more even level because they’re actually having to work for it, and some are failing miserably. The good teams are still good, but the middling teams are miles better.
The fact is – and this is the biggest cliché of the lot – that there are no easy games in the Premier League. Bournemouth away? A given, except for Liverpool. Southampton at home? A given, but not if you’re Arsenal. A trip to Forest? A given, unless City have an off day. United were thrashed at Brentford, Leicester are going down but eased past Spurs 4-1 and Chelsea have lost at Fulham, Brighton, Leeds and Wolves this term.
That’s nine teams ‘outside of the elite’ I’ve mentioned there who’ve all taken points from the big boys, and it’s nowhere near all of their dropped points of course.
What’s actually happened is the money has made the overall league stronger, so Arsenal can go from fifth to second, Villa can be staring relegation in the face before fighting for Europe within the same season, and Chelsea can finish as low as 13th or so.
This is a world where Forest can outspend PSG and Wolves can spend as much as Barcelona. And a world where a four-time EL winner can become the Villa manager and Brazilian World Cup members choose West Ham.
City can obviously beat anyone, and do beat most, but there are very few guarantees in this league and that suggests a far higher level across the board.
Adidasmufc is right – the ‘big N’ will spunk millions, just as they’ve done last year. It’s not helped Chelsea, and remember how Spurs won the summer last year? The problem is Villa, Brighton, Brentford, whoever are going to strengthen too – some more astutely than others – and next year more unpredictability will come.
Maybe Arsenal will drop as you seem to assume is a given too. I’d prefer to think the second youngest team in the league will add CL quality players to an already promising squad and will be ready for the challenge of 38 very tough games once again.
Joe, AFC, East Sussex
Big Sam in the big stand
Dear DH, what if I told you there already was a man who has managed over 500 premier league games known for sitting in the stands?
No, not Sir Alex Ferguson. Not Wenger. Not Mourinho.
This man boasts a record of 178 wins, 145 draws, and 214 losses. With 631 goals scored and 748 goals conceded.
And it looks like Leeds are looking at those statistics and thinking: I’ll have a bit of that!
Arise, Sir Big Sam.
Silvio (Not exactly the best advert for a higher perch eh?) Dante
Sean, meet Sam
Everton and Leeds are now managed by different generations of the same bloke.
Sean Lynch, London