Jurgen Klopp says he still feels angry about the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar and blames Fifa for missing the chance to strip the gulf state of the tournament.
The Liverpool manager said in his press conference ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday that the world governing body should have taken into account the issues that have blighted the build-up to the tournament, and believes the decision could and should have been reversed in the years following the controversial 2010 vote.
He added that he thinks it is wrong that England manager Gareth Southgate and captain Harry Kane should be asked questions about Qatar’s human rights record when it was not their decision to hold the tournament there.
Klopp will not be going to the tournament – which starts in two weeks’ time – and when asked whether it was the mid-season timing of the event or the issues about holding it in Qatar that had dampened his enthusiasm for the World Cup, he answered: “Both.” He will take a holiday instead.
“There were plenty of chances in the next three or four years [following the vote] to say the process was not right and a lot of people took money for the wrong reasons. It was organised by other people – football politicians – and we all let it happen. Everything was on the table but still Mr Blatter [Sepp Blatter, the former president of Fifa] came out of it somehow – and others as well.
“[The vote] was that long ago that some of the worst guys died already. Do you really think we did enough [to get the decision reversed] in the first place? We are all guilty. We could have sorted it long ago.
“We couldn’t play the World Cup there in the summer because of the temperature and there was not one stadium in Qatar – or maybe one. So you have to build stadiums. I don’t think anybody thought about that on the [vote] day, that somebody has to build them.
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Many teams, including England, will wear armbands in support of the LGBT community in a country where homosexuality is illegal and there has also been criticism of the treatment of imported labourers who have constructed the stadia.
Klopp feels for managers and players who have been asked to answer ‘political’ questions when they should be concentrating on football.
“Don’t put Gareth Southgate constantly in a situation where he has to talk about everything,” said Klopp. “He has an opinion but he’s not a politician, he’s a manager of England so let him do that. Asking Harry Kane if he will wear the [LGBT] armband while the other guys [Fifa] are saying ‘please don’t make political statements.’ That’s not ok. Now we are making a story about it when it is about to happen and putting players under pressure about what they will do.
“I will watch it [on television] from a football point of view but it is different to other World Cups and I don’t like the fact that players now have to send a message.”
Premier League fixtures this weekend
Saturday 5 November 2022
- Nottingham Forest vs Brentford, 15:00
- Wolves vs Brighton, 15:00
- Man City vs Fulham, 15:00
- Leeds vs Bournemouth, 15:00
- Everton vs Leicester, 17:30
Sunday 6 November
- Chelsea vs Arsenal, 12:00
- Aston Villa vs Man United, 14:00
- Southampton vs Newcastle, 14:00
- West Ham vs Crystal Palace, 14:00
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool, 16:30
Guardiola believed both Liverpool and Newcastle can compete for title
Pep Guardiola has tipped resurgent Newcastle and under-performing Liverpool to play a part in the Premier League title race.
Manchester City will take top spot from Arsenal, who travel to Chelsea on Sunday, if they beat Fulham at the Etihad Stadium, with Mikel Arteta’s team making the early running in the chase to be champions. Guardiola said that he sees six teams as threats to City’s bid to make it five league titles in six seasons, naming Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Liverpool lie 15 points adrift of the Gunners, but Guardiola refuses to rule them out, saying: “They have the same manager and squad who were able to make 17, 18 victories in a row in the past. Why are they not able to do it again?”
Newcastle are the new kids on the block, with Guardiola saying Eddie Howe’s team “have incredible physicality to the way they play and they are playing one game a week.
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Guardiola also had a sarcastic riposte to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s jibe that the City manager could stunt Erling Haaland’s development. The AC Milan striker, who spent a tempestuous season under the Catalan at Barcelona, said: “Is Guardiola able to improve him? That depends on the ego that Guardiola has. If he allows himself to be bigger than Haaland or not. He didn’t allow me or the others to be as big.”
Guardiola shrugged off the attack, saying: “He is completely right. In this club, in this team, my ego is beyond every other person, every player. I don’t like it when Erling scores three goals, and all the highlight is for him. I am so jealous! Honestly, so jealous! I said ‘Erling, please no more goals, otherwise The Sun and Daily Mail won’t talk about me, and just about me’. [Ibrahimović] knows me perfectly. He can write another book.”
Potter insists Aubameyang is misunderstood ahead of Arsenal reunion
Graham Potter says Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is misunderstood ahead of the forward’s emotionally charged first reunion with Arsenal on Sunday.
The 33-year-old will face former manager Mikel Arteta who repeatedly accused him of a lack of professionalism before moving him out of the club in February. The frayed relationship between the two will take centre stage at Stamford Bridge but Potter hasn’t found his striker to be anything other than great to deal with.
“Maybe on the outside thinks he’s this loud, flashy person but he’s not,” Potter said. “We found him really quiet, really humble, a nice person who wants to support the team and has been really respectful all the time.
“His taste is a bit different to mine and his taste in clothing is a little different to mine, but I’d like to think we’ve got some similarities as well. He’s got kids, he’s a family man. He wants to enjoy his football, he wants to be happy, he wants to be supported, he wants to be part of the team. I found him really nice to work with.”
Potter added that his taste for flashy cars isn’t a reflection of his character: “Just because you drive a fast car doesn’t necessarily tell you too much about your personality or character. You might just like cars. It’s not something that has ever bothered me to be honest. Everybody is different.”
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“My job is to support him, to understand his quality and what he likes to do as a footballer and then put him in those positions as often as possible. Simple as that really. I always think it’s about the team, how the team can function better so the individuals within it can show off their quality.
“That has been the challenge for us for different reasons, for lots of reasons in terms of a few key injuries and just the amount of games you play. The longer we are together the more we work with him, the more he understands us, and vice versa, and that’s how you can help him.”
Premier League top scorers so far in 2022/23
- Erling Haaland – Man City – 17
- Harry Kane – Tottenham – 10
- Aleksandr Mitrovic – Fulham – 9
- Ivan Toney – Brentford – 8
- Leandro Trossard – Brighton – 7
- Miguel Almiron – Newcastle – 7
- Roberto Firmino – Liverpool – 6
- Phil Foden – Man City – 6
- Callum Wilson – Newcastle – 6
- James Maddison – Leicester – 6
- Rodrigo – Leeds – 6
Conte expects Reds to be out for revenge against Spurs
Antonio Conte expects Liverpool to be gunning for revenge this weekend after Tottenham stopped them winning the Premier League title last season.
The Italian was complimentary of opposition number Jurgen Klopp on Friday despite the Reds boss being critical of Spurs’ style of play after the 1-1 draw at Anfield in May. It was the last points Liverpool dropped in the Premier League and proved crucial with Manchester City pipping them to first spot by one point following a dramatic final day.
“Well, if you remember they lost the Premier League for this result,” Conte said. “I understood Jurgen’s frustration. They lost the Premier League because of that result. They lost the Premier League for these two points, but you know instead we reached the Champions League with that draw. It’s okay, every coach has to speak for his team.
“For every coach it’s important to understand the best strategy to reach a good result. Honestly, I have seen again the last game we played against Liverpool and if there was a team that deserved to win it was Tottenham, not Liverpool.
“But I understand after the game when you felt you lost the Premier League to say something wrong against another team, but he has said sorry because he understood. No problem for me. When you are angry its very difficult sometimes to control your emotion.”
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Defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday would open up a 13-point gap between the sides, but Conte is dealing with an injury crisis in attack. He will definitely be missing both Richarlison and Son Heung-min due to calf and facial injuries respectively while Lucas Moura and Dejan Kulusevski will need to be assessed after muscle issues. It only serves to highlight the lack of squad depth Spurs have in comparison to some of their big six rivals but Conte conceded there is no guarantee they will spend in January before he sent a warning for the future.
He added: “Honestly, I don’t know this. For sure, the life will always be more difficult in the future. For sure, Tottenham has to challenge with a team like Newcastle, also Arsenal. Arsenal in the last three or four years, every season they invest money and now we are talking about a really, really good team with a really good coach.
“But in England it will be really, really difficult in the future and I think in every situation the most important thing is to be honest. To be honest with the fans, to be honest with the ambition, not to tell lies or to promise and this is the right way for every club.”
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