Jurgen Klopp has said he’ll consider making a personal apology to John Brooks over his conduct towards the fourth official in Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Tottenham last weekend.
In celebrating Diogo Jota’s stoppage time winner, the Reds manager ran towards the official and appeared to scream in his face, an action for which the 55-year-old has been widely criticised.
The German is also facing an FA charge over comments he made about match referee Paul Tierney, who he said has ‘history’ with the Merseyside club (via Sky Sports).
As per Liverpool Echo, Klopp was asked on Tuesday if he was considering making contact with Brooks to apologise over the incident, and he replied: “I could. Honestly, it was not cool but I just celebrated in his direction.
“What did I actually do? I got a yellow card for it but do you think it was bad enough, honestly, for me to give an apology?
“Was I that close [to him]? OK, well we don’t have numbers for referees and I have to be honest, I haven’t thought about that yet but I can do that easily. That is not a problem.
“I said it was my fault but I just didn’t think it was that bad but it’s how we all know, things that don’t look that bad in your own mind are sometimes different to what the outside world sees.
“If it looks [bad], you’re the first one who told me that and everyone has spoken to me about it. Everybody. You’re the first to ask me that but I will consider [getting in touch], definitely.”
READ MORE: Curtis Jones proves Thiago point that could save Liverpool millions – opinion
READ MORE: ‘High on the list…’ – Paul Joyce drops Liverpool transfer claim after Thiago setback
Brooks deserves credit not just for his calm reaction to Klopp’s reaction towards him in the wake of Jota’s goal, but also for what he’s believed to have said to Tierney.
The Liverpool manager revealed yesterday that the match referee had deemed his conduct worthy of a red card, but instead gave a yellow on the advice of the fourth official.
The Reds boss also voiced his regret and held his hands up to wrongdoing over Sunday’s flashpoints, a show of contrition which will hopefully be the precursor to avoiding any repeat of what happened at the weekend.
If Klopp is to get in touch with Brooks to apologise, and if the fourth official at Anfield three days ago is happy to accept that apology, that should be the matter put to bed and, ideally, quell the ongoing witch hunt against the 55-year-old.