Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp didn’t take too kindly to a joke from Amazon presenter Marcus Buckland.
Klopp referred to the Englishman as ‘brave,’ ‘ignorant,’ and disrespectful in a tetchy interview after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Wednesday night.
Buckland had made a joke about the German manager’s longstanding dislike of the Saturday lunch-time kick-off slot, which Liverpool are penned in for this weekend, but Klopp didn’t see the funny side.
Klopp’s gripe with the early kick-off is based on the grounds of player-welfare and recovery, with Liverpool losing three and failing to win any of their six early kick-offs last term.
They take on Crystal Palace in Selhurst Park this Saturday, leaving them with less than three days recovery for the game.
He’s so fucking arsey for no reason. It’s embarrassing.
— Jay Motty (@JayMotty) December 6, 2023
“You mentioned Jurgen, you’ve had to shuffle your pack, you’ve had a few injuries,” began Buckland.
“You’ve got all these games, you’re still going strong in the League Cup in the FA Cup. You go to Crystal Palace at your favourite kick-off time at the weekend,” he added.
“That’s brave. That’s really brave, you made a joke about that,” replied Klopp.
Buckland tried to change the subject and move on, but Klopp wasn’t interested.
He said in response: “It is. It is constant. We go home. I don’t know what exactly the time is now. We get back 1am, 2am or whatever and we play again.
“We have two sessions. It’s fine to recover and then we go again.
“Crystal Palace played tonight and that’s absolutely fine. It’s just not good.
“You don’t understand it as well even when you work in football. Why should I try to explain again? You make just completely ignorant (comments). But it’s good. Football is entertainment and I understand.”
“It’s one of those issues that come up and I’m not trying to be disrespectful,” Buckland said.
“You were already. It’s all good, you can say what you want but I can’t say what I want because that would be completely different.”
Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai scored the goals as Liverpool beat the Blades 2-0. Liverpool didn’t come through the game unscathed however, with defender Joel Matip now ruled out for the season having torn his ACL.
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