Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp caused some reporters at Friday’s press conference to burst out laughing with a sardonic statement in relying to one question.
For the third time this season, the Reds’ first game after an international break sees them playing at 12:30 on a Saturday, giving our South American players a limited recovery window after flying back from World Cup qualifying action with their countries.
The 56-year-old was inevitably asked for his thoughts on the contentious kick-off time, which he has condemned previously, and cited how Thomas Tuchel was accused of having a ‘rant’ about player workloads despite Klopp insisting that the Bayern Munich manager was ‘completely calm’ in his words.
The Liverpool boss said (via the club’s official YouTube channel): “My English isn’t good enough to waste our time to make sure you understand, so why should I waste my time or your time?
“About the general schedule, Thomas Tuchel explained completely calm a situation why it’s difficult to be a high-quality footballer with the national team, and a German newspaper went ‘Tuchel had a rant’.
“I watched it and thought ‘if that’s a rant…’ – he was completely calm, and they have lesser games than we have in England. Nobody wants to hear it; you don’t want to hear it. Whatever I say, you always say ‘is there that much difference?.'”
Klopp ended his monologue by saying, with a smile and a strong hint of sarcasm: “I love playing at 12.30,” which promptly drew audible laughter from some reporters in attendance.
Thankfully, with the next international break not falling for another four months (aside from the Africa Cup of Nations in January), the Liverpool boss won’t have to deal with the annoying habit of the fixture schedulers handing his team the Saturday 12:30 slot straight after the club season resumes.
We’ve won both of our matches in that timeslot straight after the previous two national team windows, and if we can keep that sequence going tomorrow, it’d lay down a serious marker of intent in the Premier League title race.
You can view Klopp’s response below (from 15:30), via Liverpool FC on YouTube: