Jurgen Klopp has hit out at Frank Lampard after the Chelsea boss called Liverpool ‘arrogant’ after a heated sideline exchange during Liverpool’s 5-3 win over the Blues at Anfield on Wednesday.
Frank Lampard told our partners Sky Sports that Liverpool should not ‘get too arrogant’ after a disagreement broke out on the sidelines over a free kick the home side won. Lampard is believed to be especially annoyed with the behavior of Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders rather than Klopp.
The reaction of Klopp to these comments was strong.
“You cannot hit me with something like that and my bench because we are not arrogant. Frank was obviously in a really competitive mood. I respect that a lot. You can pretty much, from my point of view, say, in a situation like this, what you want. For me, when it is after the game, it is completely over. I have said a lot in the past because it is pure emotion. We are really involved,” Klopp said.
“He came here to win the game or to get a point to get Champions League qualification. I respect that a lot. What he has to learn is to finish it with the final whistle and he didn’t do that. Speaking afterwards like this, that is not OK. Frank has to learn. He has a lot of time to learn because he is a young coach but that he has to learn.”
“We are not arrogant. We are pretty much the opposite of arrogant. In a moment like this, how it is with all arguments, if you say something you want to hurt the other person. No problem with that, but after the final whistle close the book. He didn’t do that and that is what I don’t like.”
🗣 "There's a fine line between winning & when you've won the league. Don't get too arrogant with it"
Frank Lampard wasn't impressed with the behaviour of the Liverpool bench last night pic.twitter.com/i9ZDIPjQak
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 23, 2020
Lampard had this response on Friday on the incident, as he wanted to make it clear he had an issue with Jurgen Klopp’s staff rather than the Liverpool manager.
“I’ve seen the video and I was obviously there. In terms of the language I used, I do regret that because these things get replayed a lot on social media. I’ve got two young daughters who are on social media so I regret that. In terms of regretting having passion to defend my team – no. I could have maybe handled it slightly differently to keep that language in,” Lampard said.
“I would have had a beer with Jurgen Klopp after the game and toasted what a performance they’ve done this year. But there were things on the line that I didn’t like from their bench – not Jurgen Klopp but the people behind him – which I felt crossed the line. That’s what got me agitated but it’s done. Emotions run high amongst most managers, fans and players. I regret the language and we move on.”
The rivalry between Liverpool and Chelsea has always been strong and even though Lampard and Klopp revealed respect for one another, it will be really interesting to see these teams go head-to-head next season.
In recent seasons they’ve battled to sign the same players and the last few months have been no different with Timo Werner choosing Chelsea over Liverpool and many believed Pulisic would end up at Anfield and be reunited with Klopp.
Things like this happen all the time on the sidelines but I don’t think we’ve heard the last of this.
