The BBC Sport pundit slammed the Reds boss’ Anfield pitch run after Divock Origi’s Merseyside derby winner, saying “he’d be lucky not to be running past me”.
Football can be a game of mixed emotions – it’s not that often that a match finishes with both sets of fans feeling just as happy about the outcome as each other.
Sure, you get draws, but in a lot of cases, one side will feel they should have done more to win, or will feel hard done by with a particular decision.
Now, when one team ends up winning a fiercely contested top-flight city derby with a somewhat fortuitous goal in the sixth minute of injury time, you can imagine the contrast in emotions.
This is how the 232nd Merseyside derby was settled on Sunday, with Liverpool striker Divock Origi nodding home after a Virgil van Dijk miskick was scooped onto the crossbar by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Origi’s goal in the 96th minute of the Premier League encounter at Anfield gave the Reds a 1-0 win over their bitter rivals, and following the Belgian’s contribution, manager Jurgen Klopp sprinted onto the pitch to hug goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s joy was Everton’s heartbreak, but amid the partisan reactions came some stern comments from a pundit who played for neither club during his career.
Danny Mills, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, told a post-match caller: “He’d be lucky not to be running past me if I was playing in that game! But that’s the sort of problems it can cause.
“There are so many managers that get absolutely hammered but Klopp is very media friendly, everybody seems to love him and he can’t do anything wrong.
“Pep Guardiola sometimes gets away with it a bit more. I just think it’s completely wrong. You cannot go on to the middle of the pitch, no matter what the circumstances.”
Needless to say, many Liverpool fans did not enjoy the former Leeds, Manchester City and England defender’s comments, and he ended up getting lambasted on Twitter:
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