Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield on January 31, 2017
LONDON, United Kingdom, Feb 2 – Jurgen Klopp admits he was lucky to avoid punishment for bellowing in the fourth official’s face but the Liverpool manager brushed aside Jose Mourinho’s claim that he gets special treatment.
Klopp apologised following Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea after a touchline exchange with Neil Swarbrick saw him vent his frustration at the award of a penalty to Diego Costa.
Simon Mignolet saved the subsequent spot-kick and Klopp shouted “No one can beat us” at the official, who responded, according to the German, by saying, “No problem, I like your passion”.
After a goalless draw at home to Hull on Wednesday, Manchester United manager Mourinho suggested he was treated differently than Klopp and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
“Yesterday one fourth official told a manager, ‘I enjoy very much your passion, so do what you want to do’. Today I was told, ‘Sit down or I have to send you to the stands’. So everything is different for me,” Mourinho said in his tetchy post-match press conference.
Wenger is currently serving a four-match ban for using insulting or abusive words to a fourth official, while Mourinho has served two suspensions this season and a stadium exclusion last term.
Klopp accepts he was fortunate not to be pulled up for his actions, but believes everyone is treated differently because no two officials or managers are the same.
“I think it depends on the fourth official. We all know what we can do,” Klopp told reporters on Thursday.
“When I saw the picture (of Klopp shouting at the fourth official) afterwards it didn’t look too nice but it was not as bad as it looked, so that is why I said what happened.
“Maybe I was lucky with what the fourth official said because I’ve never heard something like this before. There are different ways to handle the situation.
“It is quite an emotional game and to switch off emotions is not that simple.
“We struggle — not only myself and Jose but Arsene Wenger and a lot of other people struggle.
“We are all different, sometimes we get a fine, sometimes not. It’s not what we want to do nor is it a tactic.
“It was worse with me when I was younger. I have already improved but I had no idea why he (Mourinho) spoke about me.”
