Klopp rubbishes reports top clubs are planning to expand the Champions League; Reds boss has dig at Club World Cup organisation and waits on Gini Wijnaldum injury
Sunday 15 December 2019 09:17, UK
Jurgen Klopp watched Mohamed Salah strike twice to earn leaders Liverpool a hard-fought 2-0 win over Watford - but claims VAR has changed his touchline behaviour.
In the second half, with the score at 1-0, Sadio Mane's header from a Xherdan Shaqiri cross was ruled out for a marginal, but correct, offside decision.
Although he did not contest the call, Klopp claimed he does not celebrate goals anymore, in case they are ruled out.
"I had no clue where it was offside, to be honest," he said. "I don't celebrate goals anymore because you have to wait until somebody says it is a goal.
"I thought there was one pass before where maybe it was offside, but that Sadio was offside, I couldn't see."
Newspaper reports on Saturday morning suggested the European Clubs' Association want a 32-team league, with each club playing 10 matches against 10 different opponents, with FA Cup replays scrapped.
But Klopp did not hold back in his assessment of the reports at his post-match press conference, insisting he has not been involved in any talks about expanding the competition Liverpool won last season.
After the 2-0 win over Watford on Saturday, Klopp said: "I read an article today that the top clubs want more games in the Champions League - I'm not involved in these plans, so that's absolute b******s as well.
"We can talk about everything, but we have to cut off games, not put more in. We are quite positive about doing what we do, but it's clear we need each point we can get, because it is a tough and long season."
The Premier League leaders head into a busy December period, with Liverpool having to play a weakened side in the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Aston Villa on Tuesday ahead of the Club World Cup semi-final in Qatar the next day.
But Klopp says whether Liverpool were in the Club World Cup or not, the fixture problem would be the same in December, and also took a dig at tournament organisers for the fact all games will be played on the same pitch in Doha for the tournament.
"If we didn't go to Qatar now, we'd play midweek at Aston Villa, and then West Ham. The only difference is that we fly seven-and-a-half hours, but it is warmer there.
"I think it is raining there, which doesn't help the one pitch we are all on… it is sensationally well organised! Where all the games are on one pitch and it is raining there, I'm not sure if people in Qatar are really used to a lot of rain. We will see how the pitch will be. That's a bit of a problem.
"But with the Gini (Wijnaldum) injury today, and the Dejan Lovren injury three days ago, our squad is not getting any bigger. The fixtures are like they are, you all like watching us suffering, that's how it is, you look concerned but in the end nobody really cares, that's how we have to deal with it."
Despite a handsome lead at the top of the Premier League, Klopp says his side are still taking it game-by-game.
He said: "I think I've said it 500 times, December, January especially, you need to show a resilience, that's the most important thing. We showed that, but so did Watford.
"You can make early judgements, but we can't. We just have to recover and go onto the next game."
Gini Wijnaldum withdrew in the second half with what looked like a hamstring injury, but Klopp knew nothing of its severity, and will wait for results of a scan.
Klopp said: "It's muscle. I don't know anything else. [Whether he can travel to Qatar] is actually in the moment one of my smallest concerns - he could probably fly - but my problem is more what exactly the injury is and I don't know that yet.
"It's a muscle thing and you never want to have a muscle injury. But in these moments it always makes it immediately more difficult, but it's not only us, all other teams have the same problems. We have to deal with these situations, that's clear.
"We will see - tomorrow we know more."
Liverpool now take a weakened side to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports Football at 7.45pm, while their strengthened side travel to Doha for the Club World Cup for their semi-final on Wednesday at 5.30pm.
