Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp has addressed the issue between him and Sadio Mane, claiming that it won’t affect his team selection.
Mane refused to shake Klopp’s hand after Liverpool’s win against Manchester United, and as you can imagine, this sent the media into a bit of a frenzy, discussing a rift between the two parties and raising questions about the future.
Luckily, Klopp had a press conference on Friday and he made sure to address the situation.
“How are things with Sadio Mane today, I know last night you said it was no problem, but did he apologise to you, and will he start against West Brom?” One journalist asked.
Klopp played down the issue, suggesting that Mane will still be in line to be selected despite the handshake snub.
“I cannot make a bigger story of it as it is. Football is an emotional game and everybody expects that we control our emotions always but it doesn’t work out always, that’s the case.
“It happened to me as a player, and it happened to other players when I was their coach. We’ve had so far no chance to talk about it, but we will talk about it and there will be nothing left and everything will be fine, it’s a thing. Do we want these things happening? No, but it’s not the first time in my life and I’m afraid to say it will not be the last time,” Klopp said.
It seems as though the issue with Mane won’t affect Klopp’s team selection.
It’s unknown why Mane refused to shake his manager’s hand after the game, but it seems as though Klopp isn’t overly bothered by it.
As the gaffer says, football is an emotional game, and sometimes you make brash decisions in the heat of the moment.
Whether or not Mane starts this one remains to be seen, but Klopp’s answer seems to suggest that this isn’t an issue that will see him dropped from the matchday squad.
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