Tim Sherwood told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (28/08/21 at 1:15 pm) that Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp don’t have a ‘given right’ when it comes to tackling in the game.
Last week, Klopp was unhappy at the challenges that were seemingly served up by Burnley players during Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Anfield.
Klopp compared the hard-hitting tackles, which are now being allowed to flow in the game, to ‘wrestling’, as he told Sky Sports.
The German coach even went out of his way to single out a few Burnley players, including striker, Ashley Barnes.
But former Tottenham and Aston Villa boss, Sherwood, wasn’t having any of it, as he suggested that the opposition ‘can’t just let teams play around them’.
On football going 10-15 years backwards re the tackling: “I hope we are because it would be far more entraining,” said Sherwood.
“I think they are entitled to put their foot in. I think the emotions now with crowds being back in the stadiums gives them that. I think the referees have been great in letting a lot of go.
“They can’t just let teams play around them. They have got a given right because they are Liverpool? They have won the Premier League now and no one can tackle them? No, you can get your foot in.
“Yes, you don’t want to see players getting injured. But it’s a physical game and we want to see the physicality.”
Overall, it seems the changes that have been brought in have been for the positive and it is allowing the game to flow that bit more.
But when it comes to Liverpool and Burnley, the two teams and managers have always had their heated clashes, including last season at Anfield.
That’s when the Clarets ended Liverpool’s long-standing unbeaten run on home soil.
And when come Klopp and his players visit Turf Moor later on this season, his team aren’t exactly going to get a warm welcome.
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