REVEALED: The reason Jurgen Klopp had no choice but to be a massive arse to interviewer speaks volumes

Editor F365
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
Spare a thought for Jurgen Klopp and his media commitments

The first thing to point out is that Niels Christian Frederiksen has publicly defused the situation. As the latest subject of Jurgen Klopp proving his ability to be a massive arse, his point of view is by far the most relevant here. And he said he has “absolutely no problem” with the Liverpool manager questioning his professional standards while walking out of a post-match interview.

But the speed with which certain elements of the media have moved to defend and even justify Klopp’s tendency to be a bit of a d*ck is breath-taking.

‘Jurgen Klopp criticism ignores truth about how Liverpool boss really behaves in interviews and press conferences’ is the headline in the Liverpool Echo for a piece in which Paul Gorst rallies against the ‘performative outrage’ over the German’s actions at the weekend.

Klopp telling Frederiksen he is “obviously not in a great shape” to interview him, before, according to the reporter, he “continued down the hallway, where he yelled and screamed at me,” was actually just a ‘less-than-enthusiastic reply’, you see.

And while Gorst adds that Klopp’s actions were ‘admittedly over the mark’ – what are we actually doing here then? – he adds that ‘the sub-minute clip is out of context from what the Reds manager has to do as part of his wider post-match media commitments’.

Which is to say that Klopp, like every other manager, has to do loads of interviews with many different outlets, thus has no choice but to ultimately insult and condescend to someone trying to do their job. Unlike a fair few other managers who can somehow avoid those pitfalls.

It was not a particularly insightful, ground-breaking or even good question from Frederiksen – “Normally, intensity is the name of your game so how come it became so difficult in extra time?” was branded “dumb” by Klopp – but it is equally stupid to pretend the hostile reaction was just the natural product of having to partake in media commitments after such a tumultuous defeat.

Yes, the German is highly paid for his work and as one of the coaches of the biggest clubs on the continent, it is all par for the course. But that doesn’t always make it easier to shrug off questions he might object to.

But there is an ability to ‘shrug off questions’ and there is storming out of an interview, asking the interviewer “What is wrong with you?” and grabbing the microphone. Feels like there is probably a middle ground that could be struck somewhere. Perhaps not.

READ MORELiverpool will flounder outside top four without ‘lucky’ Jurgen Klopp…

The old adage about a happy loser being a loser holds weight and Klopp is not unlike many of the other managerial greats across history, who often took umbrage to media grillings in the wake of damaging defeats.

From Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger through to Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, on those rare occasions his Manchester City side are bested; all have often raged or sniped at journalists. There’s nothing new here.

‘All of these people could be kn*bs too’ is not the defence you think it is. It just means all of those people could be kn*bs too and frankly, Klopp has more form than most, especially when it comes to singling out individuals. And there is a distinction between that and being prickly in a press conference.

It is fine, by the way, to have these moments. It is a perfectly human trait. But it doesn’t warrant justification by anyone other than Klopp. He is big enough to account for his own actions.

Gorst even vaguely acknowledges this, saying ‘one of the many reasons supporters will back him to the hilt is the human aspect to his personality’. He adds: ‘For all the bear-hugs, the guffaws and the charisma, there is a side to Klopp that can be risible, terse and frustrated.’

And again, that is fine. The bloke is human and thus flawed and prone to such outbursts. But he is also a 56-year-old man who doesn’t need his negative actions to be rationalised like a schoolchild during a meeting over his behaviour.

Liverpool fans would much rather that than the monotone, robotic nature of some others across the Premier League, whose post-match observations sometimes make it difficult to decipher if their team has won, lost or drawn.

The storm will no doubt continue to rage across social media but it is confined to the teacup only. A bigger story will have been if Klopp had been indifferent after such a dramatic defeat at Old Trafford.

Those are indeed the only two options available to every manager after a disappointing defeat: indifference or being massively and needlessly patronising. And Mediawatch is a huge fan of the idea that Klopp choosing the former would have been ‘a bigger story’. If Gorst genuinely believes that then he’s in the wrong job.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, referee Paul Tierney and broadcaster Des Kelly
Jurgen Klopp has had a few run-ins as Liverpool manager

 

Dumb luck
Gorst is not fighting Klopp’s battle alone; Ian Ladyman is here in the Daily Mail to incredibly predictably start his defence with five paragraphs about Sir Alex Ferguson.

Soon after that, there is a stunning piece of victim-blaming:

Klopp said he didn’t like a question. ‘Dumb’ he called it. The interviewer in question – Niels Christian Frederiksen – has subsequently claimed the Liverpool manager screamed at him as he stormed off down the tunnel and that is something the broadcaster may regret. There is an unofficial omerta when it comes to reporting such things and, as such, there are some members of the managerial community in the Premier League who will feel that code has now been broken.

Yes, of all those involved who might ‘regret’ their actions, it’s definitely the fella Klopp insulted, and Ladyman certainly isn’t just yet another old-school journalist quietly raging at the supposed flouting of ‘an unofficial omerta’ like when somebody breaks embargo on inane quotes.

But in terms of Klopp and his conduct, it is unusual but not particularly startling to hear about. The number of ‘flash’ interviews – as they are called – that managers are obliged to give to domestic and foreign rights holders before and after big games can be into double figures and is growing each season. It’s one of the prices paid for the torrent of TV and radio money that continues to flow into the English game.

Klopp is an adult man so can we stop pretending he simply does so many interviews that it becomes impossible not to eventually abuse someone? He has far more of these incidents than anyone else at this level so maybe he is the common denominator?

 

Interview advice
As a general rule, if you are on the side of Jamie O’Hara or Jason Cundy then something has gone wrong. And here are there thoughts for talkSPORT:

O’Hara: “He does a lot of interviews, Klopp. A lot. And that was probably like the 8th or 9th interview he’s had to do, getting asked the same questions and talking about intensity. He’s just lost against Manchester United in the FA Cup where he’s trying to go for the Quad, I kind of have to feel a little bit for him in the sense of, these managers, they’re gonna switch eventually, right? They’re gonna have a moment where they’re like, ‘Ah, go away’.”

Cundy: “For people that don’t know, when you go through and you do all these interviews, they get put through somewhere between like eight to 15 TV channels all around the world, it’s so draining.”

It might actually be even more damning that Cundy said Klopp will nevertheless “look back on that and I think, in a quiet moment, will think ‘I could have behaved differently’.”

When he is offering a sensible voice in the debate…

 

Most nonsensical headline of the day
‘Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has broken down on five different occasions after TV walk-out’ – Daily Express.

Fair play to them for trying to sweep up any SEO clicks but unless Mediawatch has missed something really quite significant, Jurgen Norbert Klopp has never ‘broken down’ on TV.

 

Discounted goods
The Liverpool Echo are playing a similar game with this:

Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool might still have to play Pep Guardiola and Man City again in extraordinary Premier League finish

It really is that point in the season when certain outlets try and pretend that clubs are going to finish on exactly the same points, goals scored, goals conceded and head-to-head record, thus an extra game will be needed to separate them ‘in a Premier League title play-off at a neutral ground’.

‘One last clash between the old foes cannot yet be discounted,’ apparently. But a) it’s never happened before, b) it would require a ludicrous set of results to facilitate and c) Arsenal might want a word.

 

Not too Xabi
And then there is this, also from the Liverpool Echo:

What Xabi Alonso was doing during Liverpool FA Cup defeat speaks volumes

Reader, he was winning a game in his current job as manager of Bayer Leverkusen.

Actually, even that’s not strictly true. Leverkusen beat Freiburg in a match which kicked off at 2:30pm; Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester United started an hour later. So what Xabi Alonso did before Liverpool FA Cup defeat spoke volumes. Still a really stupid story but at least slightly more accurate.

In fact, another way of phrasing the whole thing might be: ‘Leverkusen’s latest win came amid Liverpool’s 4-3 FA Cup defeat at Manchester United on Sunday.’ But only if you have abandoned all concept of the English language and can now only communicate in utterly absurd footballspeak.

 

Mirror image
Elsewhere in the land of volume-speaking is this Daily Mirror special:

Sir Dave Brailsford’s reaction to late Man Utd winner against Liverpool speaks volumes

He celebrated. ‘Emphatically’. Because ‘the significance of the result was not lost on’ a man who has probably seen a football match before.

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