A post-match interview featuring Jurgen Klopp dominated the fallout from Liverpool’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, with the German being accused in some quarters of being disrespectful to the journalist in question.
However, the interviewer has since clarified that the Reds boss didn’t make any personal remarks in saying that they were ‘not in great shape’ in response to being questioned about his team’s apparent lack of intensity during extra time at Old Trafford.
The debate continued on talkSPORT, with Jamie O’Hara echoing a point made by Paul Gorst of the Liverpool Echo that the 56-year-old would have had to conduct numerous interviews after that bitter defeat and his emotions were understandably running high.
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The ex-Tottenham midfielder’s colleague Jason Cundy also defended Klopp, saying: “It’s so draining [volume of post-match interviews]. I don’t think the question was that bad. I think he’s had enough; they got beat. He’ll regret that, but it ain’t that bad. It’s alright; cut him some slack.”
The ex-Chelsea player continued: “I’m not going to batter him for it. He doesn’t like losing. No-one likes losing. He’s been beaten and it’s an afternoon defeat, especially when you’re seconds from winning it. There’s a lot of emotions going on there.”
Fair play to O’Hara and Cundy for understanding that the Liverpool manager was bound to have been emotional so soon after an agonising last-gasp defeat to our biggest rivals, unlike their talkSPORT colleague Andy Goldstein who childishly branded him a ‘disgrace’.
It’s not as if Klopp is the only coach in world football who doesn’t take kindly to losing – look at Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. They’ve all had their strops after a galling result, but don’t seem to get the same level of public flogging as the Germans.
You can view O’Hara and Cundy dissecting the Klopp interview below, via talkSPORT on YouTube: