The boss talks about the 3-2 loss to West Ham.
A loss is inevitable, especially after a streak like the one the Reds have been on, but it still hurts. This Sunday’s 3-2 loss to West Ham had a few key players, too, chief amongst them being the ref, Craig Pawson. Jurgen Klopp had words after the game ended, both about Cresswell’s challenge on Jordan Henderson and the fouls on Alisson that resulted in the first goal of the match.
“I saw only the situation with Aaron and Hendo now and the way I saw it now, it’s a clear red card,” Klopp said. “There’s actually no discussion possible and, again, I don’t know how [it wasn’t one.]”
“It’s all about the ref, it’s all about the ref,” Klopp added about the first goal and the fouls on Alisson. “The ref is always right. I don’t know, it’s not man-marking, it’s blocking the goalkeeper. That’s what teams do. The goalie has no real opportunity to sort that situation because if he pushes a player away [and] makes himself space then it’s a foul of the goalie and that’s then a different problem. We had a couple of goals already this year – Brentford against Arsenal where I said this was a foul and they clipped the arm of the goalie in that moment. Not a lot of people saw it like I saw it, to be honest – football people, yes, but all the rest around obviously not and especially not the referees. For the goalies it is really difficult [and] this will happen much more often if they don’t intervene. It is, for me, a clear foul and the goalie is the loneliest person on the pitch in this moment because nobody helps him, he just gets attacked and in the end the ball is in and he looks a bit dumb and that’s it.”
Hopefully the international break gives the Reds time to regroup and maybe gives the FA and all its refs enough time to think about what on earth they are meant to be doing.
