Jürgen Klopp does not deny one thing: his team, Liverpool FC, is in a sporting crisis. In the Premier League, the Reds are tenth in the table, 14 points behind leaders Arsenal London. The team is currently far from its top form, the trainer has already ticked off the championship.
Still, Klopp isn’t ready to listen to every criticism or respond to all the criticism that comes his way. Klopp reacts particularly sensitively to the TV expert Didi Hamann, who is known to work for the pay-TV channel Sky, where he sometimes draws attention to himself with his biting criticism and steep theses.
When a reporter confronted Klopp at the press conference before the Champions League game against Glasgow Rangers with Hamann’s statement that the team lacked the “spark”, he made fun of it with malicious irony.
“Who said that?” asked Klopp. When Hamann was named as the source of the quote, Klopp could not resist a biting reply. “Oh great. He’s a fantastic source, very respected everywhere,” said Klopp, earning a few laughs. The former BVB coach, 55, also did not accept the fact that Hamann played in Liverpool for many years (1999 to 2006): “That doesn’t give you the right to say what you want. Especially if you don’t got a clue.”
When the journalist tried again with the missing spark, Klopp added: “I don’t think Didi Hamann deserved you using his words to ask me a question. Please do me a favor and ask me your own questions . It’s good.”
