Gary Lineker has labelled Jurgen Klopp's rant at an Amazon Prime broadcaster in the aftermath of Liverpool's 2-0 victory at Sheffield United as "really weird".
After goals from Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai at Bramall Lane, the Reds boss appeared to be goaded by presenter Marcus Buckland
Marcus Buckland, referenced Saturday's 12:30pm kick-off against Crystal Palace as the German's " favourite" time.
Klopp hit back at Buckland, who he called "disrespectful" before insisting the presenter doesn't "understand" football.
The post-match interview gained plenty of traction online, with fans and pundits split on whether the Liverpool manager was right
Lineker believes Klopp's reaction was over the top and that Buckland had done nothing wrong with his "really, really mild joke".
Lineker
"Well, Pep [Guardiola] wasn't the only manager to get the hump.
"Jurgen Klopp last night [Wednesday], at the end of the game, dismissed the presenter as arrogant and didn't know what he was talking about just because he made a really, really mild joke about the fact that Klopp doesn't like a 12:30pm kick-off!
"And I must say, I don't think he did anything wrong there. I think Klopp was just obviously stroppy about something, and it was really weird.
"He said 'How could you joke about something like that?' I think, 'What? A 12:30pm kick-off?' It's not a hill to die on is it, really?
"When you look at the things going on around the world at the moment. But anyway, I understand managers are under pressure."
Alan Shearer, on the other hand, was quick to jump to the defence of the Reds boss and admitted he feels sorry for Premier League managers and the number of interviews they are forced to do
Shearer
"[Mikel] Arteta gave us nothing before the game [vs Luton Town]," said Shearer. "Do you know what, I wonder what on earth is the point of interviews before the game, and sometimes after it, you know?
"I know we had the Arteta rant when it [defeat] happened at Newcastle but other than that, sometimes interviews with managers before and after the game are a complete waste of time; because they're doing an interview the day before, they're doing an interview an hour before the game, they're doing an interview half-an-hour after the game.
"In their defence, they must think 'What on earth are we doing all this for?'
"But from a manager's point of view, you're always going to protect your players, you're always going to protect your football club. So in the end you think, 'What's the point?'"
Comments