Klopp repeats Newcastle complaint as he fires dig at Amazon Prime presenter
Fuming Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has slammed an Amazon Prime presenter for asking a ‘disrespectful’ question about the Reds’ match against Crystal Palace at 12.30pm on Saturday.
Klopp was speaking to the media after the Reds’ 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Wednesday evening, in which goals from Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai kept them just two points behind league leaders Arsenal.
The German manager has repeatedly slammed the decision to play games at 12.30 p.m. after midweek fixtures, claiming it will harm the Premier League product because fatigued players are more likely to sustain injuries and perform at a lower level.
And Klopp took offence at presenter Gary Buckland’s question in the post-match debate. Buckland said: “You mentioned, Jurgen, that you have had to shuffle your pack, you have had some injury problems, you have got all these games, still going strong in Europe, the League Cup, the FA Cup, you are going to Crystal Palace, your favourite kick-off time at the weekend. That’s the price of success.”
To which Klopp replied, “That’s brave, really brave; you make a joke about that.” Buckland then asked, “You have still got the passion, the enjoyment, and it is constant, day in, day out?”
However, Klopp fired back at the presenter and said, “It is constant, yeah. Now we go home, and I don’t exactly know what time we arrive: 1 a.m., 2 a.m., whatever. Yeah, and then we play again. Do we have two sessions tomorrow? Yeah, we have two sessions. It is fine to recover, and we go again.
“Crystal Palace plays tonight as well, and that is absolutely fine. But I realise you don’t understand it as well, even when you work in football, so why should I try to explain again?
“If you make a joke, then you are just completely ignorant. But it is good, and football is obviously entertainment, and I understand. It is all good.”
Buckland replied, “It is just one of those issues that comes up, and I am not trying to be disrespectful.”
However, Klopp then said, “You were already,” to which Buckland replied, “Jurgen, I apologise.” Klopp then ended the conversation by saying, “You can say what you want; just I cannot say what I want because that would be really different.”
Klopp had a similar issue back in April 2022, when Liverpool were scheduled to play Newcastle in the 12.30 p.m. Saturday slot after facing Villarreal in the Champions League semi-finals that midweek.
“I’ve just spoken to BT Sport and pointed out to them again that this is a c**p kick-off time,” Klopp told DAZN Germany.
“We want to play all the games that are coming up—no problem at all. But it doesn’t have to be that they let us play at 12.30 on Saturdays and then see how it goes—for no reason. I will never understand that.”
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