Despite Liverpool's victory at Sheffield United, manager Jürgen Klopp was not in his best mood on Wednesday evening. A joke from an interviewer did not go down well.
The German manager dutifully appeared on the sidelines of Bramall Lane after the match, where broadcaster Amazon Prime had set up its base camp.
The Amazon anchorman began about the weekend. 'Jürgen, on Saturday you have to go to Crystal Palace, and that at your favorite kick-off time,' he said, alluding to Klopp's many protests against matches starting at 12:30 UK time on Saturdays.
Klopp's smile vanished instantly. 'That you make a joke about that, that's brave. Very brave. Now we're going home, we'll arrive in the middle of the night, recover and then it's on again. It's not that it's unfair, Palace also played tonight, but it's just not... well, you don't understand it either, even though you work in football. Why should I explain it again, if you make a joke about it, it shows that you haven't understood anything,' Klopp snapped.
'Football is entertainment, I understand. Fine,' said Klopp with a forced grimace. The presenter tried to calm the situation, but it was too late. 'Are you trying not to be disrespectful? You were already disrespectful. But you can say what you want, only I can't say what I want, that's very different,' said Klopp, who then hastily and in a bad mood cut off the conversation.
His counterpart Chris Wilder, back on the bench for his dearly beloved Blades for the first time, was also not happy, as revealed on Match of the Day. His anger was about the penalty not awarded to his team. 'Their defender (Ibrahima Konaté, ed.) just pushed James McAtee over in the box, and there was a foul before their second goal. Ah, thirty years ago you were allowed to win the ball that way, but not anymore.'
But, let there be no misunderstanding, Wilder, despite the precarious situation of the red and white fortress from the steel city, is happy to be back on the sidelines. 'It's better than watching Deal or No Deal and The Chase,' the manager laughed, referring to two daytime television programs whose viewers are thus colloquially known as elderly or unemployed.
