Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has found himself being ridiculed in the wake of yesterday’s Merseyside derby after blaming the wind for his side being unable to win the match.
The Reds boss has frequently rolled out weather-related excuses during his time in charge at Anfield. After the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon, it was the wind that bore the brunt of Klopp’s frustration.
Yesterday was not the first time that the German boss has blamed the wind for Liverpool not managing to get the result they expected in a particular match. The wind is a favourite go-to excuse but, when it dies down, Klopp is not averse to blaming other weather conditions. High temperatures and snow have also being used as excuses by Klopp.
When he moves away from his meteorological bent, other team’s injuries and conspiracies relating to broadcaster influence on the length of injury time have been touted as the reason for Liverpool’s failings.
Here are some of the finest examples of Klopp’s excuses.
“It was a very, very difficult game for different reasons. A wild opponent… I know people don’t like it when I say that, but the wind came from all directions. It’s not exactly what we wanted.” – Everton 0-0 Liverpool (March 3, 2019)
“It’s difficult. It was a strange game. We started really, really well, exactly as we wanted to start. Then the injury crisis started as well. That obviously cost us our rhythm. It was like, ‘What’s going on now?’ United played with a completely new midfield, pretty much a new three up front. We lost the rhythm and couldn’t get it back.” – Manchester United 0-0 Liverpool (February 24, 2019)
“You saw that the ball didn’t roll really [due to snow]. If you then have the ball pretty much for 70 to 80 percent of the time it makes life really uncomfortable.” – Liverpool 1-1 Leicester City (January 30, 2019)
“The wind didn’t help, players struggled to control the ball.” – Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Liverpool (January 7, 2019)
“The mix-up of intensity in training, very warm weather and a very dry pitch is not the best preparation for a football game. Making the right decisions when you are really tired, when it is really warm and the ball is not really rolling is very difficult. I knew that before, and that’s what we saw today.” – Bury 0-0 Liverpool (July 14, 2018)
“What I heard was that the actual extra time in the first half should have been ten minutes. It was only four. I heard that television said it’s not longer than four minutes. Of course that’s not possible, you can’t cut match time because there is something else to broadcast. I don’t know what was on afterwards, maybe the news or something. It was ten minutes and so you need to play ten minutes longer. You can’t say, ‘It’s now a little bit too long.’” – Liverpool 2-3 West Bromwich Albion (January 27, 2018)
“The pitch was really dry today. We gave it all the water we had but after 15 minutes it was really dry again with the wind. It was difficult.” – Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (May 7, 2017)
“You have to create the best circumstances to help the boys deliver and then we let the home team decide whether they water the pitch or not. It is not only for football, it is also dangerous for injuries if the pitch is really dry. I wouldn’t have said nothing about that probably if we had won but it is all you see during the game.” – West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Liverpool (April 21, 2017)
“First half, it was difficult – the wind was really strange, it was difficult to handle. You saw one or two times when the ball stopped in a moment when nobody knew about it. That was difficult for a football-playing side.” – Liverpool 0-1 Southampton (January 25, 2017)
