Klopp faces charge for referee remark
Jurgen Klopp could face a Football Association charge after suggesting referee Kevin Friend’s performance was affected by an earlier error during Liverpool’s draw with West Ham United.
Sadio Mane gave Liverpool a first-half lead, despite James Milner being clearly offside in the build-up to the goal.
Klopp said after the game that Friend “did not want to open the gap any more” after half-time. He has since been contacted by the FA, which has sought written observations from the Liverpool manager.
“I heard our goal was offside, I am pretty sure the ref knew that,” Klopp said. “In 50-50 situations, it was always a free-kick for the other team, which was hard and did not make life easy.”
He later added: “As a human being, if I know I have made a big mistake in the first half, I don’t want to open the gap any more. Referees are obviously human beings, and I understand that, but I didn’t during the game because I had no clue that our goal was offside.”
Managers are allowed to speak about referees after a match, but they are not permitted to imply bias, question the integrity of the officials or say anything that can be deemed as personally offensive.
There is no set sanction for this breach of regulations, with the severity of the punishment determined by factors including a manager’s previous disciplinary record. Klopp was fined £8,000 and warned about his future behaviour by the FA in December after he accepted a charge of misconduct for running on to the pitch in celebration of Liverpool’s late winner against Everton at Anfield.
Klopp dismissed suggestions that the result showed Liverpool would crumble under the pressure of a title race with Manchester City, while full-back Andy Robertson has said there have been no signs of nerves or anxiety in the dressing room.
“I wouldn’t say nerves are showing,” Robertson said. “Did anyone say that when City dropped points against Palace and Leicester? I don’t think they did. It’s no different for us – people talk about pressure because we’ve not been in this position, but it’s February.
“Everyone needs to relax and try to enjoy the run-in. If you’re fans, or if you’re from another club, you can watch many other clubs who want to be in the position we’re in just now.
“Nerves aren’t showing in the changing room – it’s been two poor results and poor performances. It happens during a long season. We might look back on it as a good point, but we don’t know that right now. We need to get back to playing the better football we can, but it’s nothing to do with nerves.”