Mee defends ‘physical’ Burnley

and not just because defender Joe Gomez left the ground with a fractured leg after a challenge by Mee.

Klopp may have acknowledged that tackle was a fair one, but he was angry with how physical Burnley were in general.

The tempting conclusion to draw is that there are two types of team in the Premier League: those who play with style and those who play with steel. Mee would argue that it is not that clear-cut, but does agree that Burnley have to play hard to remain among the elite.

“You can’t take tackles out of football,” the centre-back said. “I’ve seen Liverpool make tackles and get the crowd up and things like that. For me, you can play fair, but you can also play hard.

“The tackle [on Gomez] was clean. It was unfortunate and I send my best wishes to him.

“Tackles are part of the game, that’s how we play and we’re not going to change for someone saying we shouldn’t tackle. We’re not good enough to let people play around us; we need to get about people.”

No one who witnessed a scrappy 1-0 victory over Brighton, a game that was rightly featured last on Match of the Day, would claim that