Kop boss slams Toon takeover
JURGEN KLOPP took aim at the Premier League, the FA and questioned why Richard Masters had not made a statement on Newcastle’s new owners.
The Liverpool boss was in a feisty mood ahead of his side’s lunchtime kick- off with Watford today.
Klopp has clearly been agitated by his side’s squad selection being disrupted by the international break.
Alisson and Fabinho will miss today’s game owing to Brazil playing late on Thursday against Uruguay, while Curtis Jones being injured on England Under21 duty soured his mood further.
The absence of Alisson means that Irish goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher looks set to get the nod to start.
The Liverpool manager was questioned on Newcastle’s new Saudi owners, who look set to pump bucket loads of money into the club which will add t o the Reds’ challenge at the top of t he table . lopp’s issue was w ith Premie r League chief Masters remaining silent on the human rights allegations against Saudi
Arabia, where the Magpies’ owners are from.
“I was waiting for some official statement about it from Richard Masters or somebody else, because we all know there are obviously concerns about human rights issues,” said Klopp.
“That’s all clear that we all think the same there.
“As far as I know, it is the third club to be owned by a country. I am not sure how many countries are out there to have the financial power and interest to do so.”
Money
And Klopp said he believes the money now available to Newcastle makes them the league’s new “superpower”.
“What will it mean for football? A few months ago we had a massive argument, issue, the whole football world, with 12 clubs trying to build a Super League,” he added.
“Rightly so it didn’t happen but this is kind of creating a super team if you want. It’s pretty much the same; guaranteed spots in the Champions League in a few years’ time.
“Financial Fair Play nowadays, nobody knows exactly if it still exists or not.
“Newcastle fans will love it but for the rest of us it just means there is a new superpower in Newcastle. We cannot avoid that.
“Money cannot buy everything but over time they will have enough money to make a few wrong decisions, then make the right decisions, and then they will be where they want to be in the long term.
“Everybody knows that, and obviously the Premier League, Richard Masters, thought ‘Yeah, let’s give it a go’.
“In five, six, seven years’ time, if the owners are patient enough, Newcastle is a new superpower and they will have enough money to buy the whole league.” Klopp continued to complain about how he has had to send Fabinho and Al isson directly to Spain, where Liverpool face Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
The German was furious that the Premier League and Watford would not push the game back today.
“We ask only for a few hours that would have made it a little bit more likely they could have played but bringing them in for 12.30, there’s no chance for them,” he said.
“If we had played seven o’clock, then we would have probably tried it but neither Watford or the Premier League was open to that kind of thing — their understanding of fair competition.”
And to add to his anger, midfielder Jones will miss today’s clash too.
“It is really difficult to get in proper contact, even with the English federation, because they do what they want,” said Klopp.
“He didn’t train, wasn’t involved in the first game and then he played a few minutes in the second game against Andorra — great. Very important that he played there. Came back with a slight injury and not available.”