Jürgen Klopp has a habit of thanking his players one by one after the match on the field. Sadio Mané was also presented with his coach’s outstretched hand, but the Senegalese thanked them festively.
Mane clearly could not have accepted that Klopp chose Diogo Jota over him in the attack. The Portuguese is starting to see more and more at the legs of the much-vaunted attack trio and that apparently stings at Mané, who was eventually allowed to raid.
“There is no problem at all,” Klopp minimizes the incident. “I decided late to go for Jota. Normally I would have explained that decision. But not now. No time. Or forget. Whatever. But it’s all okay.”
Klopp may laugh the case away, but the analysts in England do not. “This is disrespectful. I wouldn’t be happy about this at all,” said Liverpool legend Graeme Souness.
Roy Keane also thinks Mané crossed the line. “But when I was still playing, I didn’t want the coach to come onto the field and give everyone high fives. If you see the player being upset, hold back.”
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