Klopp Says Referee Tierney Has Something ‘Against’ Liverpool

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
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Klopp Says Referee Tierney Has Something ‘Against’ Liverpool

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)

Juergen Klopp accused referee Paul Tierney of having something "against" Liverpool after their thrilling 4-3 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Liverpool led 3-0 after 15 minutes but were pegged back to 3-3 when Richarlison headed past Alisson in stoppage time, with Klopp protesting a free-kick awarded to Tottenham in the build-up to the equalizer.

Diogo Jota then scored Liverpool's winner a minute later and Klopp confronted the fourth official before racing down the touchline to celebrate - for which he was shown a yellow card by Tierney.

Klopp has criticized Tierney in the past, saying he should have shown Spurs striker Harry Kane a red card for a dangerous tackle in a meeting between the sides in 2021, and on Sunday the German manager said Liverpool have "history" with the referee.

"I really don't know what he has against us," Klopp told Sky Sports. "He has said there is no problems but that cannot be true.

"How he looks at me, I don't understand it ... My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair, but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK."

Klopp did not provide further details on the incident.

Referee's body PGMOL said they were aware of Klopp's comments, adding: "Match officials in the Premier League are recorded in all games via a communications system.

"Having fully reviewed the audio of referee Paul Tierney from today's fixture, we can confirm he acted in a professional manner throughout, including when issuing the caution to the Liverpool manager so, therefore, we strongly refute any suggestion that Tierney's actions were improper."

Klopp has been punished for comments about referees in the past. He was fined 45,000 pounds ($56,502) by the FA in 2019 for remarks about Kevin Friend.



Defiant Postecoglou Earns Some Respite as Tottenham Keep Season Alive

Football - Europa League - Quarter-final - Second Leg - Eintracht Frankfurt v Tottenham Hotspur - Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany - April 17, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Europa League - Quarter-final - Second Leg - Eintracht Frankfurt v Tottenham Hotspur - Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany - April 17, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou before the match. (Reuters)
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Defiant Postecoglou Earns Some Respite as Tottenham Keep Season Alive

Football - Europa League - Quarter-final - Second Leg - Eintracht Frankfurt v Tottenham Hotspur - Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany - April 17, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Europa League - Quarter-final - Second Leg - Eintracht Frankfurt v Tottenham Hotspur - Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany - April 17, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou before the match. (Reuters)

Ange Postecoglou has not had much to smile about in his second season as manager of Tottenham Hotspur but the under-pressure Australian now stands three games away from delivering the club's first silverware for 17 years.

The 59-year-old former Celtic manager has been mocked for his claim that he always wins a trophy in his second season with a club, especially with Tottenham on course for their worst Premier League finish since 1994.

His tactics have been regularly questioned and had Thursday's Europa League quarter-final away to Eintracht Frankfurt gone badly it might have spelt a hasty end to his tenure. Instead, Tottenham rolled up their sleeves and dug out a 1-0 victory for a 2-1 aggregate win.

With a two-legged semi-final against Norwegian outsiders Bodo/Glimt to come, Postecoglou appears to have bought himself some time and he was not shy in stating that fact.

"I think I said yesterday, I am the same manager today that I was yesterday so if people think us winning tonight makes me a better manager or whoever thinks I wasn't doing a good job yesterday, should be feeling the same way," he told reporters.

"I don't care, it doesn't bother me, it doesn't affect what I do. For me, it's always about the dressing room. Do the players believe? Do the staff believe?

"So, unfortunately for a lot of you, you're going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer, mate."

Tottenham have lost 17 of their 32 Premier League games this season and are 15th in the table and not mathematically safe from relegation. They have been criticized for being easy to score against, as was the case in the 4-2 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, but on Thursday they went back to basics and defended stubbornly in the face of Frankfurt pressure.

Whether or not it ends up being a turning point in Postecoglou's reign remains to be seen, but for now the gloom that has enveloped the north London club has lifted.

"Look, we can't get too far ahead of ourselves. We're in the semi-final and will play a difficult opponent in the semi, but it's not about my belief in the team," he said.

"What's more important is the belief the team has had because after a season like ours, it would be very easy for the players and staff, they could have left me in a pretty vulnerable place in terms of them splintering, but I've never felt that (even) with all the noise around our season."

Tottenham host Bodo/Glimt on May 1 with the return a week later. They are at home to high-flying Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Monday.