“Thank you for your help, really, thank you, thank you very much”
Jurgen Klopp snapped at BT Sport after the Liverpool boss was asked about his Brazilian absentees ahead of the Reds’ away trip to Watford.
Alisson Becker and Fabinho were both missing for Klopp’s side after the pair were involved in Brazil’s international fixture with Uruguay in the early hours of Friday morning.
The duo instead travelled directly to Spain ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid.
When Des Kelly asked Klopp about the protest of facing The Hornets without two of their usual starters, the German blasted BT Sport for ‘bringing them forward to 12:30’, sarcastically thanking them for their ‘help’.
“No, it was because we play at 12:30 and there is no chance we could play them,” said Klopp. “So that’s when we thought we then set them to [Madrid].
“It’s not that we thought ‘oh let’s see’. If we would’ve played tonight, we could’ve given it a try, but we play at 12:30, so there was no chance.
“Who was it [who had] the idea to bring us at 12:30? Was it Watford? If you [BT] wouldn’t have said it, we would’ve had to reply. Ah yeah, thank you for your help, really, thank you, thank you very much.”
BT Sport trying to justify their part in the farce of a 12:30 Saturday kick-off straight after an international break that only ended the day before, first blaming Watford, then saying Klopp should complain to “his bosses” because they took the money.
— Jim Boardman (@JimBoardman) October 16, 2021
It’s not the first time that Klopp has criticised BT, or Kelly for that matter.
In November last year, the 54-year-old snapped at the BT Sport presenter after Liverpool dropped two points against Brighton thanks to a late penalty decision. Once again, the Reds boss was keen to emphasise the gruelling nature of having to play the early kick off on a Saturday after playing in the Champions League on Wednesday.
He congratulated BT Sport for Milner’s injury, accusing them of choosing Liverpool to play in the early kick-off, when it would have made no difference to the broadcaster to have played a later kick off, but been beneficial to his players to have extra rest.
Kelly argued back that he should be speaking with other Premier League chief executives, not blaming the broadcasters.
The former Borussia Dortmund manager had recently called on BT Sport and Sky Sports to work together in order to ease the workload on Premier League players, saying it was not just about his players, but about all the others who had travelled on international duty.
Related links:
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Jurgen Klopp argues with BT Sport interviewer over kick off times
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Jurgen Klopp calls on Sky and BT to work together to ease workload on players
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