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Klopp will lock horns with one of his former players on Sunday as Liverpool welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Anfield on Sunday
While Klopp won't be warm and welcoming on the pitch, inevitably focussed on the match as the Reds look to overcome Spurs and bolster their European hopes, he will no doubt make time for former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ivan Perisic, who joined Tottenham on a free transfer from Inter Milan last summer, after the final whistle.
Enjoying a positive start to life in North London, Klopp publicly spoke positively of the Croatian last season ahead of locking horns in the Champions League.
Jürgen Klopp
“There’s Ivan Perisic, I worked together with him,” he said when reflecting on the Inter squad. “We were very successful, we won the double in Germany so I’m really looking forward to meeting Ivan.
“After, we met when he played for Wolfsburg. We (Dortmund) lost a cup final in Germany (in 2015). But since then, probably not anymore. I like Ivan Perisic a lot.”
However, relations between the duo didn’t used to be so positive after they fell out during their time together at Dortmund
with Perisic starting only eight of his 23 appearances during the first half of the season, he hit out at his manager
Perisic
"I cannot be pleased with my situation at the club. I don't get a lot of time on the pitch, very much like last year,” he told NovaTV in November 2012. "The stats show it: When I play I score. But when I don't score in a game, I am not an option for the next two or three games.
“We (Klopp and Perisic) have no relationship.
He is the best coach in Germany right now, the number one, everyone accepts the subordinate role. And rightly so, what we achieved in Dortmund over the past few years is unique.
“The atmosphere in the team is perfect, but it is as if he has something against me. He has three to four players with whom he discusses things, shares his opinions and his thoughts. The rest of us are pros, doing their job."
Klopp was inevitably swiftly quizzed about the Croatian’s comments when back on press conference duty
Klopp:
“I heard a few statements and it's nothing dramatic,” he told reporters. “I already know Perisic is not happy, it would be strange if he was. That is a fact and perfectly normal.
“With players, it is a withdrawal of love if you don't put them on the field. It's not the first time this has happened and I know that, that's normal. But the timing of the statement is not okay.
“I heard they tried to talk with me. I'm not that far away so we could have discussed this issue earlier. Before you give an interview, not really because of Ivan because this has happened a few times, but in future if you think you can generate pressure with such statements you are wrong. That's nonsense, doing that will get you nowhere.
“Of course I will tell him that and get the chance to know what he has really said and then we will fix that. Furthermore, there is nothing to say. It's no big deal.”
He continued: “An old team-mate of mine once said: 'Nobody has ever talked his way into the team'. I have so far not been able to draw the great potential he has out of him and he has not been able to do so as well. It's my responsibility to help the boys to get their potential onto the pitch.
"A professional footballer is unhappy when he is not playing. But if he shuts his mouth afterwards his chances are good it will get better. Public whining belongs to kindergarten, not to the world of adults. You shouldn’t do that.
"If he doesn’t play, a football professional should shut his mouth, work hard and make the coach select him – not complain about it to the reporters. If he then keeps his mouth shut, it is better for him at the end. Complaining in public is childish."
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