Klopp grouchy ahead of Liverpool’s Spartak test
MOSCOW: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp cut a tetchy figure during a slightly shambolic press conference in Moscow on Monday to preview his side’s Champions League game against Spartak Moscow.
Sound issues, some peculiar questions from local reporters and a confused interpreter made for a surreal atmosphere, but Klopp was also irritated by the questions he received from the British journalists present.
In response to a fairly lighthearted question about which Liverpool players he loves, after his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Mauricio Pochettino declared his “love” for Harry Kane, the usually genial German pulled a face.
“I’m real ly impressed that we are in a Champions League press conference and we talk about things like this. I really don’t understand the business anymore,” Klopp said.
“Yes, I love the club, that includes the players. I love Harry too. But he’s a Tottenham player. I love good footballers. That’s how it is.”
As the female interpreter, sitting to his left, began to translate his answer into Russian, Klopp interrupted.
“It’s not important for Russia, the question or my answer,” he said.
“It’s just an English thing. Pochettino loves Kane. And who do I love? That was the question. It’s a waste of time.”
Klopp was s imi la r l y unimpressed by a query about his team’s well-documented defensive problems, which have seen them concede 10 goals in their three Premier League away games to date.
Asked what the solution was, Klopp told his audience in a hotel suite at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport: “Work better together.” — AFP