Writing in his column for the BBC, Garth Crooks has chimed in on the Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta fracas over the weekend when naming his Premier League Team of the Week.
Sadio Mane made Crooks’ Team of the Week, but rather than discussing the Senegalese star’s performance vs Arsenal, he decided to discuss Klopp’s argument with Arteta.
The Liverpool boss got into a bit of a scuffle with Mikel Arteta after Sadio Mane made a tackle on Takehiro Tomiyasu and Crooks believes Klopp was in the wrong on this occasion.
What’s been said about Klopp?
Crooks gave his view on the situation with Klopp and Arteta.
“So it’s like that then, is it Jurgen Klopp? I wondered what the touchline row was about with Mikel Arteta. It was clear from Klopp’s post-match interview that he thought that Sadio Mane’s challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu was fair, but boy did he use the ensuing confrontation with Arteta to fuel the Anfield crowd,” Crooks wrote
“Liverpool were struggling until that moment and the only mistake Arteta made was getting involved with Klopp in the first place. The row ignited the crowd and Klopp knew it would. Mane, the architect of the incident with Tomiyasu, also took advantage of Anfield’s rise in temperature with a well-taken goal and a glorious assist. But it was Klopp who was the villain here, not Arteta.”
Six of one, half a dozen of the other
Did Klopp know what he was doing when he was getting involved with the argument with Arteta? Potentially, was it all his fault? Of course not.
Arteta was just as fiery as Klopp on the weekend and while the German had the backing of the crowd, that isn’t to say that it was all his fault.
Both parties let their tempers get the better of them here and to label Klopp as the villain is seemingly a little bit unfair.
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