Jurgen Klopp proved himself to be braver than anyone after Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Monday, calling out Roy Keane after taking issue with one of the pundit’s comments.
Keane said to Sky Sports, “They’re like a machine. They’ve had fantastic consistency moving forward. Clearly, they’re one of the fittest teams around. They suffocate opponents. I know that by coming out from the back, Arsenal inspired them, so they have plenty of goals in them.”
“On one or two times, they were sloppy at the back, but work was done and they had a strong start to the season.”
However, the last remark provoked a spiky Klopp response.
“Did I hear correctly that Mr. Keane said tonight was a sloppy performance?” he asked. “I could still hear you, did he say that?”
Keane responded, “I think they have given up one or two options that they’re going to be unhappy with.”
Klopp was not satisfied with this reaction.
He said, “I just needed to hear it. I’m not sure I understood that right, he may have been talking about another game … this one can’t be, sorry! That’s an insane description of the game, which was completely unusual. There was nothing sloppy, absolutely nothing.”
“We have been dominant against a team in form from the first second on, 100% in form. Like hell, you have to be vigilant to not get counter-attacked. 60 or 70 percent of all the balls in the back is offside, I guess. Now you’ve got to wait a bit longer for a flag, because that’s why it doesn’t feel fantastic, so it was offside.”
“Alisson had to make one save, and they had two balls behind them, so you can’t stop that. In these cases, you need a goalkeeper. Other than that, tonight, the football we played was simply outstanding.”
“There is nothing bad to say about this game tonight. That was quite the opposite of becoming sloppy.”
After Klopp had quit, Keane got in one more barb, remarking: “Very sensitive, Jesus. Imagine if he had lost!”
