Gary Lineker has reproved Jurgen Klopp for getting furious with a TV presenter who made a ‘really, really mild joke’ about the Liverpool manager’s infamous dislike of 12:30 kick-offs.
Klopp has regularly complained about his side being placed in the lunchtime slot, prompting a presenter to jokingly call it ‘his favourite kick-off time’ ahead of Saturday’s visit to Crystal Palace at 12:30.
But Klopp snapped back and claimed that the presenter was being ‘disrespectful’ and didn’t ‘understand’ football, but Lineker has spoken in their defence.
Speaking on Thursday while appearing on his ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast, the former England striker explained:
“Jurgen Klopp last night, at the end of the game, dismissed the presenter as arrogant and didn’t know what he was talking about just because he made a really, really mild joke about the fact that Klopp doesn’t like a 12:30pm kick-off!
“And I must say, I don’t think he did anything wrong there. I think Klopp was just obviously stroppy about something, and it was really weird. He said, ‘How could you joke about something like that?’ I think, ‘What? A 12:30pm kick-off?’
“It’s not a hill to die on is it, really? When you look at the things going on around the world at the moment. But anyway, I understand managers are under pressure.”
Alan Shearer, however, had sympathy for Klopp, arguing that managers are made to do too many interviews.
“[Mikel] Arteta gave us nothing before the game [against Luton Town],” ex-Newcastle hero Shearer claimed.
“Do you know what? I wonder what on Earth is the point of interviews before the game, and sometimes after it, you know?
“I know we had the Arteta rant when it [Arsenal’s controversial defeat] happened at Newcastle but other than that, sometimes interviews with managers before and after the game are a complete waste of time; because they’re doing an interview the day before, they’re doing an interview an hour before the game, they’re doing an interview half-an-hour after the game.
“In their defence, they must think ‘What on earth are we doing all this for?’ But from a manager’s point of view, you’re always going to protect your players, you’re always going to protect your football club. So in the end you think, ‘What’s the point?'”
