Jurgen Klopp: Paul Tierney wanted to send me after a dispute with Tottenham

Jürgen Klopp revealed that referee Paul Tierney told him he was going to send him off against Tottenham before fourth official John Brooks convinced him to only issue a yellow card.

The Liverpool boss, who raced to angrily celebrate in front of Brooks after Diogo Jota scored the late winner at Anfield, claimed it was “not good” what Tierney said to him in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s game.

PGMOL, the referees’ governing body, released a statement saying they had reviewed the audio and that Tierney had acted “in a professional manner throughout”.

Klopp has now clarified the exchange that upset him and also expressed regret for his subsequent comments about Tierney which left him facing an FA charge and another touchline ban.

“The whole situation should not have happened,” said Klopp. “It was because of the emotion and the anger in that moment. That’s why I celebrated the way I celebrated. There was the situation with no foul on Mohamed (Salah). It happened right in front of my eyes. Then their goal. A minute later, we scored a goal, it should have been A moment where I was happy, but unfortunately, I was still kind of angry.

“I didn’t say anything wrong (to the fourth official), I was just shouting: Without you!” That’s it. Turning in his direction wasn’t right but I didn’t get close to him.

“When Paul Tierney came on, I didn’t expect a red card for a second. I expected a yellow card. ‘For me, it’s a red card but because of him (Brooks) it’s a yellow card,’ he said. He showed me the yellow and smiled at me. I stood there thinking: card Red? Why?’

“I tried to calm down but it just didn’t work out right. I went to all the interviews and said what I said. I said what he said to me is not right. That’s because it wasn’t a red card from my point of view. I opened the box with that. Maybe I should have said at that moment He said: “He said it was a red card and I didn’t think it was. The rest was what I felt in that moment about Paul Tierney whistling for our matches.”

Klopp wondered what he “had against us” and “how he looks at me” after Sunday’s game as he referred to their 2-2 draw with Tottenham in December 2021 when Harry Kane escaped a red card for a high tackle on Andy Robertson, who had himself sent off later in the game. .

Tierney has not been selected to officiate a Premier League match this weekend: instead, he will be the fourth official for West Ham’s game against Manchester United on Sunday, and the video assistant referee for next Monday’s match between Nottingham Forest and Southampton.

Two days after his side won 4-3, Klopp insists he had no intention of questioning the integrity of the Wigan official.

“I know he’s not doing it on purpose but we have a history and I can’t deny that,” he added. “I’m not a resentful person, at all, it’s a waste of time. I’ve had to go through a lot of things in my life and get through it. But things have happened in the past in crucial matches for us. Of course, they didn’t happen on purpose but they’re still there. Nothing else.

“I know the referees are really angry at what I said. I heard I was lying, but I didn’t. I didn’t have to say two things — but the lying wasn’t involved.”

Klopp was handed a one-match touchline ban and a £30,000 fine after being sent off against Manchester City in November for protesting forcefully to his assistant Gary Beswick. Now he is ready for another football charge.

“It’s not in my hands what’s happening now,” said Klopp. “We won a football match 4-3 in great fashion and all the titles we had, I made it up. I really regret it. It wasn’t necessary and it’s not how it should be.

“We expect a reaction because everyone tells us something is coming. But we haven’t heard yet from the FA or the referees.

Maybe I should expect punishment. I think the referees think I questioned integrity. The moment I’m sitting here, when I’m calm, I don’t. of course not. But at that moment, I just described my feelings.

“It’s funny that the red card I had against City was in pretty much the same place, the same player, Mohamed Salah. Then Bernardo Silva came in with the obvious mistake. But it wasn’t zeroed. We’ll have to wait and see what they come back.”

What are Liverpool’s complaints about Paul Tierney?

Jürgen Klopp’s troubles with Paul Tierney stretch back to December 2017 and have involved a variety of incidents – some not even directly involved with Liverpool.

December 2017: Solanke’s goal disallowed

Klopp thought Liverpool had scored the winner late on against West Bromwich Albion through Dominic Solanke, but his celebrations were cut short by Tierney, who penalized the striker for handball. It was the first time Tierney had officiated in a top flight match involving Liverpool, and Klopp created a beeline for him after the final whistle.

“The ball deflected twice and I’m still not sure if the ball hit the arm. To me it looks like a chest,” Klopp bemoans. “Not on purpose, sure. It’s another unlucky moment for us.”

Solanki added, “I don’t know what changed his mind, but he did change his mind.

December 2020: No penalty for Darlow’s challenge to Mane

There were nine minutes left during the frustrating draw against Newcastle at St James’ Park when Sadio Mane looked set to deflect the rebound after he was saved by goalkeeper Carl Darlow.

However, Darlow appeared to catch Mane’s leg and Fabian Schar managed to cut through the ball clear. Tierney and VAR both missed the incident.

Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen, who was a TV pundit on that match, said: “I’m surprised he (Mane) didn’t fall. He obviously caught his right leg there and that prevents him from swinging it.”

January 2021: Mane denied a scoring opportunity against United

Against Manchester United at home, Klopp and his staff were furious at Terney’s premature first-half defeat just as Xherdan Shaqiri’s pass sent Mane lunging. There are still six seconds remaining from the minimum added minute.

“We weren’t happy about it, as you can imagine,” Sky Sports captain Jordan Henderson said. “Strange, very strange.”

“Once you put in one minute, you’re bound to play at least one minute,” said former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher. The match ended 0-0.

December 2021: Kane’s mistake, no penalty for Jota

The 2-2 draw at Tottenham saw Klopp’s frustration with Tierney spill over into the open, as Sky Sports cameras caught him telling the referee after the game: “I don’t have any problems with referees – just you”.

His anger originally flared in the first half when Kane was only shown a yellow card for his late tackle on Andrew Robertson.

Asked after the match if Kane should have been shown a red card, Klopp – who also watched Robertson sent off for fouling Emerson Royal in the second half – replied: “Sure, stronger. We can give Robbo a red card, it’s not the smartest challenge of his life.” .But that (Kane’s foul) is definitely a red card, no doubt about that. So we have the VAR sitting there, and he took a look back at Robbo’s situation. Well, that’s what he’s there for. What did he do in Kane’s case?”

And in the match itself, Klopp was also furious after striker Diogo Jota was tackled by Royal just before half-time, with Tierney ruling there was no foul play.

“Mr Tierney told me that Diogo (Jota) stops on purpose because he wants to make a mistake,” Klopp said. “First of all, if you want to shoot you have to stop because you can’t do both.

“When you see the situation again (Jota’s penalty appeal), the VAR is there. Why did it stop? I don’t understand.”

February 2022: Rodri’s handball goes unpunished

An incident that didn’t even involve Liverpool, but which left many at Anfield puzzled and angry given that it gave Manchester City a crucial boost in the Premier League title race.

It came late at Goodison Park, as City were defending a 1-0 lead. Rodri appeared to control a rebound with his arm in his own box but Tierney held no penalty and allowed the decision to stand by the video assistant referee, Chris Kavanagh. City won the league by a point.

Everton later received an apology from PGMOL, who acknowledged that VAR should have asked Tierney to review their decision. Even Pep Guardiola, the City manager, admitted it should have been a penalty.

“That’s what VAR is for. You didn’t need more than five seconds to know it was a penalty,” said Frank Lampard, then Everton manager. “He[Kavanagh]would either ask the referee to give it to him or tell him to go look at it.

“We lost a point because of a professional who can’t do his job properly. You start looking for reasons and I can’t think of a reason. It’s very incompetent to get it wrong.”

April 2023: Skip avoids the red card and Salah’s foul.

Sunday’s game against Tottenham contained two major flash points that angered Klopp.

Towards the end of the first half, Luis Diaz tried to elude Oliver Skipp, but was brought down for a challenge from the midfielder.

Although Skip got some of the ball, his foot was planted on Diaz’s ankle, leaving the Colombian to roll on the grass in agony. Tierney did nothing wrong.

After the match, Klopp brought up the incident although he did so in the context of his anger at Tottenham’s caretaker manager Ryan Mason, criticizing Tierney’s decision not to send off Diogo Jota for a high boot.

“I heard Oliver Skip could have been shown a red card. Did he talk about that too?” said Klopp. “I want Diogo Jota off the field, worry about other things.”

The latest incident that pushed Klopp over the edge on Sunday came in injury time when Mohamed Salah and Ben Davies were jockeying for the ball deep in Spurs’ half.

The footage showed that Davies grabbed Salah’s shirt with his right hand, but Tierney gave a free kick in the other direction. This allowed Tottenham to launch the ball downfield, eventually winning them another free-kick which led to Richarlison’s equalizer – although Tierney’s decision was no excuse for Liverpool’s failure to score properly from set-pieces.

How does Mohamed Salah miss (before Tottenham’s third goal)? Klopp said in an interview with Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle.

(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images))