Do you have time to talk about our lord and saviour, Jurgen Klopp?

[DaanSaaf]

I'm running out of words to describe this liverpool team. I've waited my whole life to see them win the league, and we're going to do it in spectacular fashion. Anyone want to join me?

His cup tantrum was pathetic and disrespectful, especially for someone who normally appears to be a decent human being.

No it wasn't. The FA were pathetic in trying to disrespect the break and refusing to show the game.

Klopp never had a tantrum. He said no and refused to budge. That's not a tantrum.

Yes it was. They were told in advance that this might happen. It was pathetic and disrespectful of the FA cup and that is why he was the recipient of criticism for it.

A club is more than the 11 men on the pitch.

Liverpool put out a team. A good team. Trained, developed and created by Liverpool. Who won. So what exactly is your complaint?

Yes it was. They were told in advance that this might happen. It was pathetic and disrespectful of the FA cup and that is why he was the recipient of criticism for it.

But they won. In front of 53,000 people. Surely that’s part of the fairytale legend of the FA Cup?

Putting a team out is... kind of the minimum. I mean yeah, it's part of what you're supposed to do. Part. My complaint is the manager's refusal to attend the match. It's funny, you don't expect this kind of behaviour from Liverpool either. I would always have thought of them as a club with a real awareness of and respect for tradition, not one that would be happy for the manager to snub the FA cup.

So in your work you get told that there will be a mandated holiday time that must be respected and you then go and book holiday and commit to family events etc you'd be happy to then cancel it for no reason on the demands of someone else?

Just because other clubs put up with the FA and the Premiership’s conflicting views on players health and well-being vs TV rights doesn’t mean Liverpool had to. Other managers have complained about conflicting schedules this season too, only they refused to put their money where their mouth is and followed the sheep mentality.

That being said I did think that there was an argument for Klopp to be there but he didn’t think so and obviously the club backed him so who am I to argue!

For this to be analogous, I would have to have been aware that there might have been a work engagement during said holiday period. And such jobs certainly exist: common enough in parts of the corporate world, for example. Also for it to bear any resemblance to Klopp's situation, there'd have to be an actual reason for me to go, like there was with him.

But there wasn't a reason to be there 🤔

Except, like, the team he manages playing a match in the oldest cup competition in the world. But really, this attitude is why he's had such criticism for being disrespectful.

Whilst I think the first team should have played, a team that has played together was put out, known in advance so those choosing to go knew what they were getting. Much better than the makeshift teams that many top flight clubs have put out in the FA Cup.

The person who deserves criticism above all for lack of respect for the traditions of the FA Cup is Alex Ferguson.

I think it would have been disrespectful to Neil Critchley had Klopp been there tbh, given that he's the team coach of the u23s. He has total trust in critch and the way he manages his squad.

I've actually seen a hell of a lot more praise for him than criticism.

So I could argue the same thing.

Ferguson could have literally done a shit in the cup on live telly and it would be irrelevant to the issue of Klopp's refusal to attend.

There are plenty of Liverpool fans mixing up yoga level stretching and disrespect whilst trying to justify his actions draigygoch, sure. I can well believe you might have seen more of them. Meanwhile, this is a situation that was always a possibility, that he has caused in a significant part by his own choices and that he whined about when he didn't get his own way. There is a reason why you're having to come up with non-analogous analogies to try and defend his behaviour.

@MarchDaffs we don't have to defend anything. He was right and the team won.

It's said by many that for this to be called a truly great team they must keep it up for a number of years. They were great team last year, even though Man City were even greater in the league. They're a great team this year. The key players are 28/29ish on decent length contracts so there'll be no big changes needed for another 3 years at least.

It's all looking good for us.

(And fingers crossed in 3-5 years time.)

Just because something is old doesn't mean it's good.

I love Klopp and this Liverpool team, even though i'm really a (fairweather!) Spurs fan. Very jealous of their spirit and strength, it must be a great time to be a supporter

And another positive thing about the team at the moment is that it's full of leaders: VVD, Henderson, Robertson, and Milner.

Also, they all seem to be "sensible" people. No prima donnas, can't imagine any getting caught doing something stupid, no social media whining about not getting enough gameplay. Just "sensible".

@MarchDaffs, in my view it would have been massively disrespectful to Neil Critchly if Klopp had taken charge of that game. The team, that beat Shrewsbury, let's not forget, is managed by Critchley. How disrespectful would it have been of Klopp to swoop in and take over? Rhetorical question. The obvious answer is " very".

Klopp merely intimated that this was Critchleys team (albeit coached in Klopps methods) and Critchley should be the one leading them out. Critchley did this, very successfully, as Klopp expected.

End of story.

All this talk about Livarpool and luck is just smoke, supporters of other teams trying to make themselves feel better. I don't begrudge them that, I've been doing it for thirty years. But you don't get to lead the league by 22 points because you are lucky. You get to lead by 22 points because, well, that's how good you are.

As for Liverpool fans being unbearable if we win the league, as someone said on twitter, if you poke a tiger with a stick for thirty years, don't be surprised if it claws your face off

Can I also add to the list of things that Liverpool are doing well - their social media game is on fire. If you've seen the videos of players surprising kids at local schools, Milly and Andy Robertson doing their version of GOAT on Christmas films or on biscuits (it has to be a nice dunker James), Dejan and Mo talking about their bff'ness, the Ox doing a behind the scenes videos they are really good. Obviously I'm not watching other teams digital output but as far as Liverpool goes I think they're getting a great balance of showing the togetherness/spirit of the team/club with real humour and good naturedness.

Had to come back here after hearing the lovely news, the wives of both Hendo and Salah gave birth today. Exactly 9 months since the barca game...

ah I didn't know either were pregnant (not that I was expecting a handwritten note!) Congratulations both