Burnley boss Sean Dyche has had a pop at how Liverpool won the Champions League last season, and has labelled Jurgen Klopp’s tactics as “anti-football”.
The Englishman believes that the Reds shut the game down in the final in Madrid, and refused to pass the ball around as much as they usually would.
“In the modern game, why on earth would you go up to him and say, ‘Sorry, I only want you to pass it 10 yards’ when he’s got two cannons in his feet? I always get caned for saying that but I don’t know why,” he’s quoted as saying by the Star.
“You soon swallow your pride about playing out from your own six-yard box if you stop losing and start winning. Check out Liverpool’s passing stats in the Champions League final – 67 per cent pass completion, only 280 passes in 90 minutes.
“Anti-football won the European Cup final. There you go.”
It’s a little harsh and a bit unwarranted by the Burnley boss, but there you go. He does have a point though – the Reds definitely did shut the game down.
We got a very early lead in the game, and both us and Klopp were desperate to get the game over the line and win the biggest prize of all.
Still – it’s harsh. It’s not as if that’s the way we played every week in the Champions League, did he not see our game against Barcelona?
I’m not sure why he has such a strong opinion on our efforts in the final, or why he knows the passing statistics off hand, but I’m sure we’ll see his team attempt “anti-football” the next time we beat them 3-0.