The performative outrage was in full effect across
Social Media on Sunday evening, with Jurgen Klopp the object of the ire. The
Liverpool manager's crime was his less-than-enthusiastic reply to a couple of questions from Danish reporter Niels Christian Frederiksen in the wake of to
Manchester United on Sunday. Having been asked a number of times about his side's fitness and lack of intensity in extra time, Klopp responded that it "was a bit of a dumb question" before suggesting there are "too many games" in the calendar. "Ah come on, you are obviously not in a great shape and I have no nerves for you," was Klopp's angry response as he curtailed the chat early, clearly disgruntled with the line of questioning. The 43-second clip , with plenty lining up for their pound of flesh. The incident was so widely shared in fact that the reporter in question was even interviewed for his side of the story. "I was very surprised by it, and those standing around were scared, and they were almost pressed up against the wall like: 'wow, what the hell just happened here?'" Mr Frederiksen has since told . While the video has left many criticising the actions of Klopp, that are admittedly over the mark, the sub-minute clip is out of context from what the Reds manager has to do as part of his wider post-match media commitments. As the most watched
Football fixture in football, officially, Liverpool vs Manchester United is a big deal and, as a result, that increases the demands on the managers from the media. Klopp's chat with Viaplay will have been one of likely more than , answering largely the same line of questioning on a dramatic and gut-wrenching FA Cup exit at the home of Liverpool's most fierce rivals. All before the press conference itself, where more questions were strewn in his path. Yes, the German is highly paid for his work and as one of the coaches of the biggest clubs on the continent, it is all par for the course. But that doesn't always make it easier to shrug off questions he might object to. The old adage about a happy loser being a loser holds weight and Klopp is not unlike many of the other managerial greats across history, who often took umbrage to media grillings in the wake of damaging defeats. From Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger through to
Jose Mourinho and
Pep Guardiola, on those rare occasions his
Manchester City side are bested; all have often raged or sniped at journalists. There's nothing new here. There are reasons Klopp insists he is running out of energy as far as doing the Liverpool
Job goes and one of them is undoubtedly the barrage of media commitments on a week to week basis, which was something he referenced himself when he held court on the day of his bombshell announcement in late January. On the flip side, it was obvious to those in his company how refreshed and amenable the Reds boss was on the eve of the Carabao Cup final last month. Having not faced up to the 20-minute-plus pre-match press conference at the AXA Centre after Pep Lijnders took his place - as was customary for that competition - Klopp was noticeably full of vim and vigour as he chatted with a handful of publications that included the ECHO inside the Melwood Lounge of the training ground. Klopp mused on a wide range of topics and as he previewed the upcoming visit to Wembley, insisting, with the : "I didn’t invent fist-pumps and I don’t have the copyright on it and I don’t want it. "You do what you do for yourself and your people and what the outside world thinks about it. I couldn't give a s*** to be honest! And you can write that exactly like that. This is for us and nobody else. Who likes it, likes it, and who doesn’t like it, doesn’t like it. "It is for the boys, for the club, for the people, that is much more important and everything will go on. What we are doing at the moment is we write a wonderful book I would say. "We wrote and we are still writing a wonderful book and when I leave we close that book and put it on the shelf and then someone else will write a wonderful book. That is the idea. I will not leave anything inside, I will give absolutely everything until the last second and then it is fine." The 15-minute tour-de-force of a pre-match preview showcased everything that have made Liverpool fans utterly in his thrall from day one of his arrival back in October 2015. And while the comments to Danish media suggest Klopp is willing to become more irritable in his final weeks and months at Anfield, the reality is he is secure enough with his own reputation and standing within the club's fanbase and wider game to be worried or second-guessing his own responses and how they will be viewed. At times, yes, the Liverpool boss can be prickly with reporters but that is nothing out of the ordinary for elite managers in the cut-throat world of football. For every curt reply and cantankerous interaction - which those at the ECHO have been on the receiving end of at times over the last nine years - there are many more incidents of his warmth and humour shining through. But one of the many reasons supporters will back him to the hilt is the human aspect to his personality. For all the bear-hugs, the guffaws and the charisma, there is a side to that can be risible, terse and frustrated. fans would much rather that than the monotone, robotic nature of some others across the
Premier League, whose post-match observations sometimes make it difficult to decipher if their team has won, lost or drawn. The storm will no doubt continue to rage across social media but it is confined to the teacup only. A bigger story will have been if Klopp had been indifferent after such a dramatic defeat at Old Trafford.