Klopp ‘proud’ of Firmino after racism probe ends
Jurgen Klopp is ”proud” of the way Roberto Firmino dealt with allegations of racism made by Everton’s Mason Holgate, and says he never had any doubts over the forward’s conduct.
Holgate and Firmino clashed in the FA Cup third-round derby at Anfield in January and had to be separated by referee Bobby Madley as angry words were exchanged. Holgate reported Firmino for using abusive language, but on Wednesday the Football Association cleared the Brazilian citing a lack of evidence.
“It was a long time and I was proud of how Roberto dealt with it,” Klopp said on Friday. “I was sure from
the first second there was nothing for him to be scared about. I’m happy that’s confirmed now.
“It is a very important subject. Racism is obviously still in this world, it’s something we need to think about and we need to be careful with.”
The Liverpool squad were in Marbella last week, taking some time off between their Champions League win over Porto last Wednesday and the home Premier League meeting with West Ham United on Saturday.
“We had four important sessions and the weather was brilliant,” said Klopp. ”There’s nothing good to say about not being in the FA Cup anymore, but we had to use that time.” Klopp praised David Moyes’s impact in east London and warned he side will have to be wary of the Hammers’ significant threats, with Marko Arnautovic reborn under his new manager and Manuel Lanzini likely to return to the side following injury.
“Immediately after the game against Porto, it’s all about West Ham. Will they defend a little bit deeper? Yes, probably. We need an atmosphere to be ready for that – the players, coach, staff, crowd. They have Lanzini, they have Arnautovic hidden in different areas ready for the counter-attack. The good thing is we’ve had time to prepare.
“[Moyes has instilled] good organisation. He was one of the most successful managers at Everton. Maybe at Sunderland he was not too successful but things like that happen in football. David is very, very experienced and he knows what he is doing.”
Klopp has added youngsters Rafael Camacho and Curtis Jones to first-team training this week, and said he is pleased with the quality of youth players at the club, praising the under-23 manager Neil Critchley and Under-18 manager Steven Gerrard.
“Steven and Critch have nice teams together, but it’s more difficult for Critch now as we gave half his team away on loan. I like Stevie’s desire, how he’s doing a really good job there. It’s really cool.”
Klopp added that Liverpool have no major injury worries going into the game as they seek to climb to second in the Premier League table above Manchester United, who play Chelsea on Sunday.