Jurgen Klopp admits Antonio Conte criticism after Liverpool-Tottenham draw ‘was wrong’

Jurgen Klopp admits he was wrong to criticise Tottenham for their approach at Anfield.

Conte organised his team superbly and Tottenham came away with a deserved point despite having only 35 per cent of the possession on Merseyside.

Klopp said: “I don’t like this kind of football. I think they’re world-class, and I think they should do more for the game. They play a world-class team, they sit back. They drew against us now, they won against [Manchester] City. So the game plan works for these games but they’re still fifth, so that’s how it is.”

Klopp's argument was that teams of the calibre of Tottenham, with quality players like Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and now Dejan Kulusevski, should stand and engage more.

Jurgen Klopp criticised Antonio Conte’s tactics after Tottenham held Liverpool at Anfield
AFP via Getty Images

But the Liverpool boss has now backtracked on those comments and insisted he has total respect for Conte, the job he is doing at Spurs and his approach.

Klopp admitted his post-match comments on Saturday were influenced by the disappointment of having just dropped two points.

Speaking on Monday, Klopp was asked about claims from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola that everyone else in the country wants Liverpool to beat them to the title.

And the German said: “As managers, and I had this experience recently, after a game we are obviously… we are massively influenced by the game, the situation and stuff like this.

“Would I say it again? No. I said after the game, ‘They play like they play and are still only fifth’. It felt good in that moment but anyway [it was] wrong.

“But it was just my feeling in that moment. I could not respect Antonio more, what he is doing and how he organises teams.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT