Shrewsbury use open letter to castigate Klopp for ‘ruining’ Liverpool cup tie

Jurgen Klopp Liverpool TEAMtalk

Shrewsbury Town have expressed their anger at Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp for “ruining” their excitement over the FA Cup fourth-round replay between the sides.

Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by the League One side at New Meadow in January, after which Klopp caused controversy ahead of the replay, which was held during the Premier League’s winter break.

The German insisted that none of his senior players would be present for the match in early February and Under-23s boss Neil Critchley took charge as a youthful side won 1-0 at Anfield.

However, the replay was not picked for TV coverage and Shrewsbury missed out on a lucrative financial bonus.

Writing in an open letter on the club’s website, chairman Brian Caldwell claimed that Klopp’s comments after the first game and the subsequent absence of his senior stars for the return fixture were responsible for “ruining” the occasion.

“Immediately following the [first] match, the Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ruined what should have been a wonderful moment for our club by making public statements that he and all of his first-team would not attend the replay at Anfield, effectively ruining what should have been not just financially but for the players and fans a wonderful achievement and a very special occasion,” Caldwell wrote.

 

“We struggled to believe that his statements had no effect on the replay being televised and we are convinced that LFC broke the FA Cup rules by not ‘fielding their strongest team’ in the return fixture which had a knock-on effect of STFC not getting anywhere near the financial rewards that were to be expected from an FA Cup Fourth Round replay including a potential live TV fee against the World & European Champions and Premier League Champions (elect).”

Caldwell also confirmed that Shrewsbury complained to the Football Association about Klopp’s selection decision.

However. he claimed that the Reds will face no further action from the governing body.

“In February we put a complaint in to the FA about the alleged rule breach but unfortunately and quite unexpectedly we were informed that this was dismissed last week (four months on).

“This without doubt resulted in a much lesser occasion for our players and fans as well as the financial reward that would have been expected from LFC playing their strongest team and abiding by the FA Cup rules.”

LIVERPOOL ALMOST CHAMPIONS

Liverpool entered football’s recent shutdown with a 2-1 win comeback win over Bournemouth.

However, the Reds’ form before the break was rocky, with defeats to Watford, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.

Nevertheless, Klopp’s men could win the title against Everton at Goodison Park next Sunday.

For that to happen, Manchester City need to lose to Arsenal in their game in hand.