Craig Burley has absolutely torn into the ’embarrassing’ Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp for an interview he gave this past weekend.
Klopp had just watched his side lose 4-1 to Manchester City at Anfield in a defeat which leaves the Premier League champions 10 point behind Sunday’s victors, who have a game in hand.
And the Liverpool manager appeared upset when responding to a reporter from Israeli TV who asked him whether retaining title was now an unrealistic prospect.
Klopp, whose team are now fourth in the table, belittled the journalist and criticised his professionalism after the German falsely corrected him by stating that Pep Guardiola’s side were actually 13 points clear instead of 10.
When the interviewer tried to clarify, Klopp smirked and repeatedly reminded him that he had permission to ask only two questions and that he had wasted the second one.
This isn’t the first run-in that the Liverpool manager has had with a reporter directly after a game this season, following an infamous spat with Des Kelly on BT Sport earlier in the campaign, as well as other frosty encounters along the way.
And these recent comments haven’t gone down well at all with Burley, who told ESPN that the former Borussia Dortmund coach’s attitude was ‘disgusting’ and suggested that his nice guy persona was only a front.
The Scot said: “Quite frankly his rhetoric and behaviour this season has been disgusting. I mean, embarrassing. I get it – you can be irky you can be tetchy and you can keep your answers short, but you don’t have to be condescending and rude [to the interviewer].
“If he wants to give short answers, give short answers. I thought it was rotten and I’ll tell you what, I think we’re seeing this guy in his true light. The mask has slipped.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
