‘You big baby!’ – Klopp mocked for stunning outburst with Liverpool boss branded a ‘touchy’ hypocrite

Jurgen Klopp has been taken to task over his outburst that caught a presenter off guard, with the Liverpool boss labelled a “big baby” and “touchy”.

The Reds manager has been a vocal critic of his side regularly being scheduled in 12:30pm kick-offs on Saturdays.

Liverpool have been selected in the spot allocated to TNT Sports more than double the amount of times of any other side during Klopp’s tenure on Merseyside.

They’ve filled that position on three occasions this season, with two of those coming after an international break where many Reds stars were dotted all over the globe.

Liverpool are once again in the 12:30pm slot this upcoming weekend despite playing at 7:30pm on Wednesday night.

Following their 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, Klopp engaged in a spiky back-and-forth with Prime Video presenter Marcus Buckland.

The German did not take kindly to Buckland joking the timeslot was Klopp’s ‘favourite’. Perhaps adding to Klopp’s frustration regarding fixture pile-up and player burnout was the recent news Joel Matip’s season is over after rupturing his ACL.

Player welfare no laughing matter for Klopp

Buckland said: “You mentioned Jurgen, you’ve had to shuffle your pack, you’ve had a few injuries. You’ve got all these games, you’re still going strong in the League Cup in the FA Cup. You go to Crystal Palace at your favourite kick-off time at the weekend.”

And Klopp did not appear to take that tone from Buckland very well, saying: “That’s brave. That’s really brave, you made a joke about that.”

Buckland then attempted to smooth things over by adding: “You’ve still got the passion, you’ve still got the enjoyment. Is that the same day in, day out.”

Klopp responded: “It is. It is constant. We go home. I don’t know what exactly the time is now. We get back 1am, 2am or whatever and we play again.

“We have two sessions. It’s fine to recover and then we go again. Crystal Palace played tonight and that’s absolutely fine. It’s just not good.

“You don’t understand it as well even when you work in football. Why should I try to explain again? You make just completely ignorant (comments). But it’s good. Football is entertainment and I understand.”

The exchange then continued, with Buckland adding: “It’s one of those issues that come up and I’m not trying to be disrespectful.”

However, Klopp was not particularly convinced, concluding: “You were already. It’s all good, you can say what you want but I can’t say what I want because that would be completely different.”

Agbonlahor rips into “big baby” Klopp

Klopp’s back-and-forth with Buckland went viral over the next 24 hours and drew a response from a frequent critic of Klopp – Gabriel Agbonlahor.

The ex-Aston Villa wideman has often fired verbal barbs at Klopp during his role as a pundit on talkSPORT.

Chastising the Liverpool boss for his outburst at Buckland and suggesting Klopp only jokes with presenters when it suits him, Agbonlahor said: “He’s a big baby isn’t he.”

“It’s okay when he wants to make a joke about things. The poor presenter Marcus Buckland is having a little joke about it… liven up, Jurgen. Liven up Jurgen, you big baby.

“They are quite touchy these managers, aren’t they? Pep Guardiola has had a go at Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards – Roy Hodgson as well and now Klopp!

“These presenters, you don’t know when you can have a joke with these managers, they are so touchy!”

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