‘Are you serious with that question? Make your own opinion, maybe this time without a source’: Jurgen Klopp turns on reporter in a tense exchange after he was questioned Liverpool’s awful early kick-off record
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was involved in a tense exchange with a reporter during his pre-match press conference as he discussed his team’s terrible record in the early kick-off.
Klopp’s side take on Wolves at 12.30pm on Saturday, with some players only just back from international duty.
Liverpool failed to win any of their six early kick-offs in the Premier League last season, losing three games and drawing the other three.
The Reds were in the hands of Fulham (A), Everton (A) and Chelsea (H), but lost to Nottingham Forest (A), Bournemouth (A) and Manchester City (A).
Athletic journalist James Pearce asked Klopp whether playing at 12.30 is problematic or whether the problems are due to a lack of preparation time.
Jurgen Klopp was involved in a tense conversation with a journalist during his press conference
The journalist questioned the Reds’ poor form during the opening kick-off, such as when they lost to newly promoted Nottingham Forest in October 2022.
Klopp suggested that the fact Liverpool’s stars were in action around the world, with Alexis Mac Allister playing for Argentina in Bolivia, does not help their preparations.
Klopp was apparently frustrated by the question and said: “Are you serious about this question?”
“What do you mean, what’s the difference when you play in Bolivia 30 hours ago? What do you think the reason is, I don’t understand.
‘Is it a matter of time or of the lack of recovery in between? If you have a normal week, that’s no problem, that’s what we’ve always said. The only problem is the lack of recovery time.”
Klopp emphasized that the problem was certainly due to the fact that players had to travel far for international obligations, rather than the kick-off itself.
For example, Liverpool’s Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister played away in Bolivia this week.
Luis Diaz played for Colombia against Chile, while goalkeeper Alisson was on the bench for Brazil in Peru.
Klopp said: ‘We have four international breaks until March, and on two of them we have the kick-off at 12.30. If I say one word about it again the whole world will say, ‘He’s starting to moan again’, but it’s a joke – we’ve got players in South America who I haven’t seen yet and we’re playing in 24 hours. It is a joke.
‘We’re never going to change that, but it doesn’t change anything at all. They just don’t (inaudible) answer that, so why should we talk about it?’.
Klopp then told Pearce to form his own opinion, ‘perhaps without a source’.
He said, ‘The moment someone like you makes me feel, while I’m sitting there’ What exactly is the problem, is it 12:30 because it’s lunch time? Or could it look like the time between games and the intensity of the travel?” Give your own opinion about it, but perhaps without a source.’
Other Liverpool players such as Luis Diaz (L), who played for Colombia against Chile, and Alisson, who was on the bench during Brazil’s match against Peru, had to make long journeys.
Klopp is convinced Liverpool’s problems in the early games are down to a lack of preparation time
This is not the first time Klopp has clashed with Pearce.
Last season, after Liverpool’s defeat to Wolves, Klopp refused to answer when Pearce asked a question about conceding goals early in the match.
Klopp said: ‘It’s very difficult to talk to you if I’m honest, I’d rather not do that.
‘You know why. For all the things you wrote. If anyone else wants to ask this question, I will answer.”
Pearce later claimed Klopp was referring to an article written by another journalist.
Pearce said: “I have since been told that he was responding to something he had read elsewhere in recent days. Nothing I wrote.”
They were also defeated by Bournemouth in March, a result which dented their top four ambitions
After a disappointing season last season, Liverpool have started the 2023/2024 season well, with three wins and one draw in the first four games of the Premier League season.
Mohamed Salah, who has been linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabia, made a particularly good impression with two goals and as many assists, but Klopp insisted he was not concerned about his talisman’s departure in January.
Liverpool have been selected to play in two kick-offs at 12.30pm on the Saturday immediately after the international break.
Although Liverpool dominate the head-to-head record against Wolves in their history, with 59 wins to Molineux’s 39, it has been a more even contest in recent years, despite the gap in budgets and personnel.
Last season the two sides met four times in three months, with the Reds winning twice, once in the league and once in the FA Cup third round replay after a 1-1 draw in the first round, while Wolves came out on top in a 3-round match. -0 league win in Molineux.