Jurgen Klopp voiced his sentiments that new refereeing guidance had endangered his Liverpool players against Burnley but Roy Keane disagrees.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s claims that the latest Premier League rule changes have gone too far.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Sky Sports, after United\u2019s Bruno Fernandes took a similar issue with a refereeing decision against Southampton, Keane strongly defended Burnley\u2019s rough-house tactics at Anfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all said that \u2018we all love the physical side of the game\u2019\u201d, Keane said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard Klopp complaining yesterday about the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are playing against the better teams, you do have to be physical\u201d, he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to close teams down. If you don\u2019t then they have the quality to hurt you, so I would disagree with that.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Burnley] are a pretty honest team. You have to be physical. That\u2019s part of the game I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sean Dyche\u2019s 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\u2019s performance, they should watch wrestling instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure we\u2019re going in the right direction, it\u2019s too dangerous\u201d, Klopp said, when highlighting the physical battle posed by the Clarets front pairing Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood.<\/p>\n
“I think it all started when we changed the rules 20 years ago to protect the player, you have no influence when you\u2019re in the air, I don\u2019t think it is right.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s one message, let the game flow, nobody knows exactly what that means. I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n
“I like all the decisions in favor of the offensive team but we have to stick to protecting the players\u201d, Klopp added.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople saying, ‘that\u2019s the challenge, I love watching that’ – well then watch wrestling if you like those kinds of things.”<\/p>\n
Subsequently in further interviews over the weekend, the German coach said he didn\u2019t want to risk opening Pandora\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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