After accusing the referee in Sunday’s thrilling 4-3 victory over Tottenham of harboring resentment against his club, Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, might be subject to disciplinary punishment for his comments.
At Anfield, Spurs felt they had salvaged a point as Richarlison scored his first goal for the club in the Premier League. However, Diogo Jota scored in stoppage time to win the victory for Liverpool. The visitors had been down 3-0 before to Richarlison’s goal.
Klopp, on the other hand, was so enraged by the refereeing for the whole of the game that he ran down the touchline to celebrate wildly in front of the fourth official, John Brooks, and in the process hurt himself.
After that, Klopp unleashed his fury on the referee, Paul Tierney.
“We have our history with Tierney, I really don’t know what he has against us, he has said there is no problem but that cannot be true,” Klopp said in an interview with Sky Sports. “I really don’t know what he has against us.”
“I don’t know how to make sense of the way he looks at me. It wasn’t essential for me to celebrate, but what he said to me when he handed me the yellow card is not acceptable.
When questioned about what Tierney had said, the German manager answered, “I will not say anything about it. Since the referees don’t repeat what has been said, neither will I repeat what has been said.
Even after hearing it, Jurgen Klopp continued to praise Tierney for his performance during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw on the road against Spurs in the 2017–18 season.
“Paul Tierney did not show a red card to Harry Kane, but Robbo (Andy Robertson of Liverpool) was given a red card. It was not the first time, there are a great number of things.
After listening to the audio of the game, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited declared in a statement that Tierney “acted in a professional manner.”
According to the further statement, “We vehemently refute any suggestion that Tierney’s actions were inappropriate.”
Earlier, Klopp attempted to make excuses for his behavior on the sidelines after Jota scored the game-winning goal by claiming, “Of course, we get emotional in these times. It’s not an easy task. That should not be done, it is not acceptable.
“I didn’t say a bad word to the fourth official at all; in fact, I didn’t say anything at all,” the player said, “but I pulled my hamstring probably in that moment, so it’s fair enough that I’m already punished.”
Following a loss that dropped Spurs to sixth place in the table, two points behind Liverpool, Ryan Mason of Tottenham was also dissatisfied with the officials, particularly the video assistant referee (VAR).
After Jota made a head-high challenge on Oliver Skipp, which only resulted in a yellow card for Jota, the interim head coach was curious as to why Jota was still allowed to play.
Mason said, “I would like an explanation and a reason why it wasn’t (a red card),” and he stated this. “I can understand why referees on the pitch missed it,” the speaker said.
He continued by saying, “We want the VAR to assist the official on the field at that time, but an experienced referee and VAR haven’t provided it… It was a significant decision, an important decision, and one that you really can’t afford to make a mistake with.