Gary Lineker now has something to say after seeing Jurgen Klopp’s rant at Amazon presenter

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has drawn more criticism for his reaction to Amazon Prime presenter Marcus Buckland this week.

Klopp went off at Buckland following Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Wednesday. With the presenter making a tongue-in-cheek remark about the Reds’ early kick-off against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Jurgen let him have it.

Predictably, the Liverpool boss has been found guilty in the court of public opinion, with Gabriel Agbonlahor one of those to condemn his behaviour. Now, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Gary Lineker has done the same.

“Jurgen Klopp last night at the end of the game dismissed the presenter as arrogant,” began the Match of the Day presenter. “He didn’t know what he was talking about. Just because he made a really, really mild joke about the fact that Klopp doesn’t like a 12:30 kick off.

“I must say I don’t think the presenter did anything wrong there. I think Klopp was just obviously stroppy about something and it was really weird.

“He said how could you joke about something like that? And I was thinking what a 12:30 kick off? It’s not a hill to die on that one, when you look at the things going on around the world at the moment. But I understand managers are under pressure.”

Lineker misses the point

Klopp’s reaction to Buckland could certainly have been better on Wednesday, and the 56-year-old will no doubt be the first to admit that.

We have of course seen this type of fiery behaviour from Jurgen in the past, but more often than not he apologises and owns up.

Nevertheless, we think it’s also a little disingenuous to dismiss what he said as ‘weird’ and ‘a hill to die on.’

Klopp’s remarks are down to frustrations at being unable to protect the welfare of his players sufficiently. He has banged and banged and banged the drum that there’s simply too much football being played – and it’s getting worse.

If you asked him, Klopp would probably say that that is in fact a hill he’s very much willing to die on. While others remain silent on issues, he isn’t afraid to speak out.

It’s also worth noting that because he’s been so vocal in his opposition to things like 12.30 kick-offs following midweek games, Jurgen gets asked about it over and over. This is Liverpool’s fourth early start of the season already. He’s been poked and prodded on the subject many times already.

Of course, that’s always going to happen, though. Klopp will be used to being asked the same questions time and time again, that’s all part of his job. But when it comes to an obviously touchy subject, Buckland could quite easily have said nothing. Instead, he took a cheap shot, poked the bear and was shocked when it swiped back.

Jurgen will know he could handled this better, but he should in no way be lamented for it either. Keep fighting the good fight, boss.