Jurgen Klopp voiced his sentiments that new refereeing guidance had endangered his Liverpool players against Burnley but Roy Keane disagrees.
Former Man United skipper Roy Keane – notorious for his hard tackling and physicality on the pitch that have resulted in a few scandals – has hit back at Jurgen Klopp’s claims that the latest Premier League rule changes have gone too far.
Klopp forwarded some suggestions on Saturday that the latest refereeing tweaks have made the game more dangerous but the former Manchester United captain was quick to disagree.
Under the new guidance, referees have been instructed to give fewer penalties and to allow play to develop before giving free-kicks, while VAR officials use thicker lines in order to benefit the attacking sides in offside decisions.
Speaking to Sky Sports, after United’s Bruno Fernandes took a similar issue with a refereeing decision against Southampton, Keane strongly defended Burnley’s rough-house tactics at Anfield.
“We all said that ‘we all love the physical side of the game’”, Keane said.
“I heard Klopp complaining yesterday about the game.
“When you are playing against the better teams, you do have to be physical”, he continued.
“You have to close teams down. If you don’t then they have the quality to hurt you, so I would disagree with that.
“[Burnley] are a pretty honest team. You have to be physical. That’s part of the game I love.”
Sean Dyche’s side have long been noted for their style of play and it would be fair to say trying to beat the Reds at their own game was not an option available to the Lancashire side although, to be fair, there were several incidents that appeared to go relatively unpunished by referee Mike Dean. The Liverpool boss made his feelings clear in his post-match interview with BT Sport, suggesting that if fans enjoyed Burnley’s performance, they should watch wrestling instead.
“I’m not sure we’re going in the right direction, it’s too dangerous”, Klopp said, when highlighting the physical battle posed by the Clarets front pairing Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood.
“I think it all started when we changed the rules 20 years ago to protect the player, you have no influence when you’re in the air, I don’t think it is right.
“There’s one message, let the game flow, nobody knows exactly what that means. I’m not sure.
“I like all the decisions in favor of the offensive team but we have to stick to protecting the players”, Klopp added.
“People saying, ‘that’s the challenge, I love watching that’ – well then watch wrestling if you like those kinds of things.”
Subsequently in further interviews over the weekend, the German coach said he didn’t want to risk opening Pandora’s Box by discussing the demerits of officials this early in the season, but stuck to his suggestion that it would cause more damage for the players later in the season.
Jurgen Klopp was far from the only manager to bemoan refereeing decisions at the weekend, as both players and coaches adapt to the new rules.
Credit: Football Tribe Malaysia
