Garth Crooks has hit out at Jurgen Klopp over the Liverpool manager’s reactions during the 4-1 win at Brentford on Saturday.
The impressive result came at a big cost for the Reds, who saw Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez all forced off with injuries before the start of the second half, with the trio adding to an extensive casualty list at Anfield.
In his latest Team of the Week column for BBC Sport, the pundit voiced his annoyance at the LFC boss raising his hands to his head whenever one of his players went into a challenge against the Bees.
Crooks wrote: “It’s no use Jurgen Klopp putting his hands on his head every time one of his players goes into a tackle. Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez all came off with injuries in Liverpool’s 4-1 demolition of Brentford but that’s football.
“Expecting a footballer not to pick up knocks is like expecting a chef never to cut his finger. This wasn’t a dirty match full of pernicious tackles but a full-blooded Premier League fixture.”
Crooks has never been a football manager, and it shows with these quite bizarre comments about Klopp.
It’s only natural that when a coach is already dealing with a spate of injuries to key players and loses three more men in a single match, he’s going to have a fearful initial reaction when seeing them launch into tackles and go to ground for even a couple of seconds.
It must also be remembered that the Liverpool boss has seen the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Harvey Elliott suffer serious injuries during games in the past, so it’s very understandable that he’d fear the worst if he saw someone remain prone on the turf for a prolonged passage of time.
Granted, none of the incidents which saw Jones, Jota and Nunez go off injured were malicious from Brentford, but for Crooks to take umbrage at Klopp’s reactions on Saturday is frankly baffling.
Perhaps the BBC pundit ought to try managing a team at the summit of what we’re always told is the best league in the world and being tasked with figuring out ways to navigate a top-heavy injury list which includes some of the sport’s primary exponents in their respective positions.
#Ep102 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️