In the Premier League, it’s a good old tradition that coaches shake hands immediately after the final whistle. On the sidelines, there is sometimes only a quick congratulation or a wordless encounter between winners and losers. When Anthony Taylor finished the top match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday evening, Jürgen Klopp and José Mourinho also approached each other. It was not just a brief encounter, however. Because loser Mourinho obviously had some need to talk after the 1: 2 defeat at the last minute.
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Klopp looked slightly irritated when Mourinho started verbally. Finally he laughed, looked at Mourinho and gave him a friendly slap on the back before the coaches parted ways. Later, on the BBC microphone, the German spoke about the dialogue with his Tottenham counterpart. “The situation was not heated up,” said Klopp to what the audience saw but did not hear. “He was only unhappy because he said the better team lost. I thought he was kidding! But he was really serious. That was all. ”Klopp took it with a smile, after all, the victory was his.
That Mourinho was pissed off was all too understandable. After all, there was a lot at stake. The Spurs had come to the Anfield Road as the front runner to the first pursuer. After the defeat, Liverpool are now three points ahead of the top of the table. Mohamed Salah gave the “Reds” the lead in the 26th minute with an unfortunate deflected shot that fell right into the goal. Heung-min Son equalized on the opposite side after a quick attack (33rd). It stayed that way – until Roberto Firmino used a corner kick with his head to make it 2-1 in the 90th minute.
That hurt Mourinho, of course. Especially since the goal scorer cheered after a sprint across the whole square in front of the famous Kop grandstand with the 2000 fans. It was the 66th home game in the English league in a row that Liverpool survived without defeat. Klopp was excited. “That was a great game against a great opponent,” he said. “We did really well, that’s how you have to play. Tottenham will play at the top until the end of the season because they are a real top team, just world class. Playing against them is a big challenge. “
Indeed, Tottenham and Mourinho had reason to be annoyed. Because chances for a different outcome of the game were definitely there. Steven Bergwijn had the best chances of the Spurs, in the 63rd minute he hit the post. Even striker Harry Kane missed promising when he headed over the gate from close range from a corner just a little later. That took revenge in the furious finale. “We deserved the win, so I just have to be disappointed,” said Mourinho. “We just have to score the second or third goal to end the game. We didn’t do that. “
Once on the move, Mourinho was not finished with his complaint about the injustice of football that evening, which he saw as screaming. “Losing this game is very, very unfair. But that’s football. In the end, fate decided that they win – in a strange way for me. ”He couldn’t be more precise. Instead, he complained about Klopp’s behavior. “The referee allows it,” he said to the emotional German. “I’m sad that I can’t do that. If I had behaved just like him on the sidelines, I would have had no chance of staying there. ”But everything was fine between the two coaches. “No problem.”
With his criticism of Klopp, Mourinho alluded to the fact that he had to replace Giovanni Lo Celso after his yellow card after less than an hour because he was afraid that the Argentine would catch a dismissal. “The guys out there (Liverpool bank to Klopp, editor’s note) put incredible pressure on the referees, so I had to react and take him out of the game,” said Mourinho sullenly. The fact that he can be a master of verbal provocation himself was of course not mentioned at this point.
Klopp and Liverpool couldn’t care less about these skirmishes. They survived the tough test against Tottenham, shaken personally. The 19-year-old central defender Rhys Williams made his first game ever in the Premier League. And he did a good job. That applied to the entire team. The performance impressed Klopp so much that he decided not to change completely. And then came the former Firmino from Hoffenheim, who was last criticized. “We always sound so shocked when we say ‘Oh, Bobby hit’, but that’s not so rare,” claimed Klopp. However, the critics are not that wrong when it comes to pure statistics. It was only Firmino’s third goal of the season in their 20th game. But an even more important one.
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