- Jurgen Klopp’s no.2 Zeljko Buvac was livid at John Achterberg during Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
- The Bosnian Serb blamed the Dutchman for Willian’s goal
- Brazilian lobbed Simon Mignolet with a chip with sub Adam Lallana waiting to come on
- SEE MORE: Agent confirms LFC midfielder will leave in Jan: ‘It’s the best solution’
Liverpool’s assistant manager Zeljko Buvac was so angry with John Achterberg after Chelsea’s equaliser, that he couldn’t actually speak to our goalkeeper coach, claims Paul Joyce in the Times.
According to the respected journalist, Buvac blamed Achterberg for not getting Adam Lallana on the field quick enough, with the Dutchman responsible for liaising with the 4th official and confirming Liverpool’s substitutions.
Joyce writes:
“The mix-up prompted a heated response from Zeljko Buvac, the Liverpool assistant manager, who was furious with John Achterberg, the goalkeeping coach, at the failure to get Lallana on to the pitch.
“And he exploded in another rage when Chelsea equalised two minutes later and refused to speak to Achterberg, who liaises with the fourth official over substitutions, when Liverpool made a double change soon after, with Lallana and Sadio Mané eventually thrown on.”
Lallana was waiting on the sideline for minutes before his eventual introduction, with Klopp suggesting his arrival would have changed our formation to a back-five which could have hopefully defended Willian’s fluke-cross a little better.
Achterberg won’t have went home feeling especially good on Saturday night, with his keeper Mignolet lobbed for the equaliser as well.
Still, any disagreements are part and parcel of a football match charged with emotion and we’re sure the pair have put any issue to bed.
We’ve drawn our past two matches with Sevilla and Chelsea, but both are excellent sides and we could/should have won both.
Providing we beat Stoke midweek, we’ll be well on track.