‘That’s done,’ says Jurgen Klopp after apparent touchline argument with Mohamed Salah
CNN
Just weeks ago, it seemed as if Jürgen Klopp was set to end his tenure as Liverpool manager with a flourish. The club was in contention to win the English Premier League, was favorite to win the Europa League and in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Adding three trophies to the League Cup already won in February was not such a fanciful prospect.
Just weeks ago, it seemed as if Jürgen Klopp was set to end his tenure as Liverpool manager with a flourish. The club was in contention to win the English Premier League, was favorite to win the Europa League and in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Adding three trophies to the League Cup already won in February was not such a fanciful prospect. Yet, Klopp’s reign, which ends this season, will not have the romantic, trophy-laden finale Reds supporters had craved. A series of surprise results – defeats by Crystal Palace and Everton – have all but ruined hopes of a second league title under the German, while the Reds are out of the FA Cup and Europa League after shock defeats to Manchester United and Atalanta respectively. A 2-2 draw against West Ham on Saturday leaves Liverpool with just a slim chance of winning the title – only an unlikely unravelling by both Manchester City and Arsenal would put them back in contention. The push for a ‘quadruple’ of trophies has quickly come away at the seams this month and the club’s miserable end to the season epitomized by the apparent touchline argument Klopp had with star striker Mohamed Salah during Saturday’s draw. As he was about to enter the pitch as a second-half substitute, television coverage showed Salah and Klopp exchanging words on the sidelines. Klopp had walked over to speak to the forward, which prompted a response from the Egyptian. Salah then continued to speak in Klopp’s direction, raising his arms in apparent frustration, after the German had walked away, before teammate Darwin Núñez, who was also set to be introduced as a substitute, intervened to end the eyebrow-raising exchange.