‘King of excuses’, ‘pathetic’ – Many fans react as Klopp makes Man City transfer claim before Liverpool clash

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has taken a swipe at Manchester City for being able to ‘do what they want’ financially despite the presence of Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions.

After pipping Liverpool to the Premier League title last season, City strengthened their squad with the marquee signing of Erling Haaland in the summer transfer window.

Having already scored 20 goals in 13 games for his new club, reports suggest the striker is earning around £900,000 a week inclusive of bonuses.

Liverpool spent money of their own, breaking their transfer record to secure the signature of Darwin Nunez, with Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay arriving for nominal fees, and Arthur joining on loan.

They were, however, reluctant to spend big on a midfielder, after missing out on first-choice target Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid.

Ahead of their meeting at Anfield on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp took a swipe at City and FFP restrictions when asked if the Reds can compete with City on a financial basis.

“Oh, you won’t like the answer. You will not like the answer, and you all have the answer already,” Klopp said during his pre-match press conference. “Nobody can compete with City in that.

“You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker on the market. No matter what it costs, you just do it.

“I know City will not like it, nobody will like it, you’ve asked the question but you know the answer. What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It is not possible. Not possible. It is just clear and again you know the answer.

“There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially. It’s legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want. They will say: ‘Yeah but we have …’ but it’s exactly the fact.

“We have to look at it [and say]: ‘We need that and we need that and we have to look here and make it younger, and here a prospect and here a talent’ and that is what you have to do. And you compete with them.”

These Klopp’s comments shared on Twitter gathered a number of replies from a wide range of Man City supporters.

“Excuses like always.”
Credit: @jg10_mcfc

“He cries way way too much…..it’s pathetic ”
Credit: @Egypt_w_Bass

“How do liverpool fans put up with this”
Credit: @cormacmcfc

“Didnt 6 Liverpool players made PL XI last season adding €100m striker”
Credit: @Rodri_16ball

“I thought they had the best players in the world in every position?”
Credit: @nearlykris

“But they told us they had the best keeper, right back, left back, centre halves, midfield, forward line, surely this can’t be right.”
Credit: @bluwes

“I like Klopp but he is KING OF EXCUSES in England, and it’s not a good thing.”
Credit: @sanesou

“This might make some sort of sense if there wasn’t a team literally in the same city as us who spend more on their squad and have a higher wage bill. And it’s not like Liverpool are miles behind us in those terms either.”
Credit: @city_tactics

Monthly moaning has started😭 pic.twitter.com/ueewqJp2zf

— 🇧🇼MCFC🇧🇼The blues💥 (@Tim_mosima) October 14, 2022

Jurgen Klopp’s most bizarre post-match excuses as Liverpool manager

Jurgen Klopp is a brilliant football manager but the German is quite adept at finding bizarre excuses for poor performances from his Liverpool side.

Pitch excuse

After watching the Reds stumble to an opening draw with Fulham at the weekend, the Liverpool boss was quick to criticise the condition of the Cottager’s pitch.

Klopp’s comments that the surface was too ‘dry’ in west London were soon seized upon, with Fulham responding with a not-so-subtle retort from the club’s social media admin.

The Craven Cottage turf looking absolutely lush yesterday. 💦#FFC pic.twitter.com/9QEc20kGeM

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 7, 2022

Wind

A personal favourite of Klopp, the wind – alongside Manchester City – has been one of the biggest obstacles in Liverpool’s pursuit of major trophies.

Two notable times blustery conditions have impacted the Reds have come in Merseyside derbies, with dropped points against Everton often attributed to weather-related measures out of the club’s control.

“[It was a] very difficult game for different reasons,” Klopp said following a goalless draw with the Toffees in March 2019.

“I know people don’t like it when I say it, but the wind came from all different directions, the ball was in the air a lot.”

Opposition injuries

You might be forgiven for thinking that three injuries inside the opening 43 minutes might be a hinderance for the side forced into changes.

Not Klopp, however, who had an alternative take after a goalless draw at Manchester United in February 2019.

After Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard all had to be replaced inside the first half with hamstring injuries, Klopp commented that United’s enforced chances had actually impacted the rhythm of his side.

God

Manchester City have often appeared an unstoppable force in recent seasons and it’s little wonder given heaven’s clouds are reportedly adorned in sky blue scarves and inflatable bananas.

For God, of course, is a Manchester City fan and among his many tasks is ensuring his beloved blues remain above Liverpool in the Premier League title race.

“I am convinced now that God is a Man City fan and that he will do everything to stop us,” Klopp said after a defeat to Everton in February 2021. “You can’t win against God.”

Alisson’s cold feet

Alisson’s arrival is regarded as one of the most transformative signings of Klopp’s reign, with a drop from his usual excellence leaving the Liverpool boss scrambling for excuses in February 2021.

The Brazilian channelled his inner Massimo Taibi in a disastrous display against Manchester City in February 2021, as Alisson’s errors saw the Reds thrashed 4-1 at Anfield.

Not content with gifting the visitors a goal with one poor pass, the goalkeeper proceeded to repeat the trick soon after with another careless clearance as City ran riot on Merseyside.

It was a bad day at the office for #LFC ‘keeper Alisson…😬

Here are his 2⃣ costly errors against #MCFC as he handed the visitors two goals in quick succession! 😮 pic.twitter.com/xaR9Vz3dHw

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 7, 2021

Klopp’s search for some sort of reasoning behind the Brazilian’s brain-farts resulted in a clear conclusion – cold feet.

“In the second goal he just mishit the ball,” Klopp said after the goalkeeper’s gaffes.

“There’s no real reason, maybe he had cold feet. It sounds funny but could be.”

Broadcasters influence

Klopp expressed his unhappiness after Liverpool were dumped out of the FA Cup in 2018, claiming the television producers cut short his side’s loss to West Brom at Anfield.

Jay Rodriguez scored twice as West Brom won 3-2 at Anfield, in an eventful fourth-round clash dominated by VAR decisions.

Klopp claimed the continued chaos surrounding VAR should have led to ten minutes of added time in the first half, but accused BT Sport’s production team of cutting the contest short to keep on top of TV scheduling.

“What I heard was that the actual extra time in the first half should have been ten minutes,” he said after the Reds’ cup exit in January 2018. “It was only four.”

“I heard that television said it’s not longer than four minutes. Of course, that’s not possible, you can’t cut match time because there is something else to broadcast. I don’t know what was on afterwards, maybe the news or something. It was ten minutes and so you need to play ten minutes longer. You can’t say: ‘It’s now a little bit too long.’”

BT Sport’s match director was quick to shut down the lunacy of Klopp’s comments, insisting that any attempt to influence a match official would be both ‘unprofessional’ and ‘utterly futile’.