Graeme Souness told Sky Sports that he ‘doesn’t get’ recent comments from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool beat Burnley 2-0 in the Premier League over the weekend, with Klopp unhappy at the seemingly heavy challenges that were going unpunished from the opposition.
This season, the on-field referee’s have been told to be more strict in awarding fouls and they should allow the game to flow more.
That rule change hasn’t impressed Klopp, as he compared the whole situation to ‘wrestling’, as he told Sky Sports.
But Souness, who was a hard-hitting midfielder during his playing days, wasn’t having any of it and he made it clear why the combative nature of the game needs to remain.
“I don’t get it,” said Souness. “Arsene Wenger was the first one to come out with this.
“If you think you have a really good team. Ole thinks they have a really good team. Jurgen Klopp thinks they have a really good team. Pep Guardiola thinks he has a really good team. They want it to be a football match.
“How else can a small team beat a big team if it’s a football match? They can’t. If it’s just straightforward, it became a tippy-tappy game of football.
“The Premier League has been the easiest to sell compared to any other league by a country mile. That’s why everyone comes to it because the money is here.
“If we want to go down the road of what these managers want, where it becomes like French football or Dutch football, then you won’t sell the Premier League rights.”
Klopp wasn’t the only one complaining over the weekend because Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also in agreement with the Liverpool boss.
Manchester United recorded a 1-1 draw at Southampton, with Solskjaer claiming that Bruno Fernandes was fouled in the build-up to the home side’s goal.
Either way, across the board, there doesn’t seem to be many managers or players moaning about the new rule change.
It should be welcomed with both arms because that ability to tackle and just be physical in the simplest of forms was going out of the window.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
