Jurgen Klopp implied that Cody Gakpo’s scars from being kicked in the chest by Tyrone Mings during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday were reminiscent of the Adidas logo.
The first half was marred by an incident which saw the England defender boot the Dutch attacker in the stomach, an act for which the former was only shown a yellow card and somehow didn’t prompt the VAR officials to summon John Brooks to the monitor for a review.
A photo later emerged which showed large visible scars on the 23-year-old’s chest, making it all the harder to fathom how the refereeing team both on and off the pitch failed to deem it worthy of a red card for the Villa centre-back.
Klopp was serving a touchline ban yesterday and watched the incident from the stands rather than at ground level (Sky Sports), but upon seeing the marks on Gakpo afterwards, he was understandably appalled.
When asked by reporters if he was surprised that Mings’ foul didn’t warrant a VAR monitor review from Brooks, the Liverpool manager replied: “I was…I’m sure you saw Cody. He looks like he’s sponsored by a very famous brand. It’s like three massive [slides fingers from his shoulder to his waist].
“I didn’t see it back. Was it a red card from your point of view? I cannot answer that question. I was probably too far away from that. I saw Cody only later when he showed it to me, and you cannot do that [what Mings did to Gakpo] without making a proper foul.”
Although Klopp has occasionally crossed a line in his conduct towards officials in the past, it’s not hard to see why he’d be livid with Premier League referees when the standard of officiating in the top flight continues to be bafflingly low.
How Brooks and the VAR officials didn’t see fit for Mings to be sent off for what he did to Gakpo yesterday was simply incomprehensible, and represented a dereliction of duty on their part.
You can catch Klopp’s comments on the incident below, courtesy of our footage on Twitter:
Klopp on the Mings' awful challenge on Gakpo 🚫 #LFC
🗣️"You cannot do that without a proper foul. I asked the ref why the offside goal was an offside goal… he explained it to me and said 'this is a subjective decision'. He thinks it's a not deliberate action from a defender. I… pic.twitter.com/FIKZkzQL10
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) May 20, 2023
Sure it was a red card for mings