Jurgen Klopp has slammed West Brom for their tactics and dry pitch after Liverpool gave up a two goal lead at the Hawthorns Stadium to draw 2-2. Liverpool were cruising thanks to goals from Danny Ings and Mohamed Salah, however, West Brom struck twice in the second half to finish with a point. Following the match, Klopp branded West Brom’s draw as a “useless comeback”.
Jake Livermore and Salomon Rondon scored twice in the second half amid more poor defending from Liverpool. It gave the Premier League’s bottom side a slight glimmer of good fortune in an otherwise awful season.
The draw means Liverpool still need one more win to guarantee themselves of Champions League football next term. Meanwhile, West Brom could be officially relegated on Sunday.
Klopp did not hold back following the match and let his feelings know in his post-match interview.
“Useless comeback,” Klopp said.
“I don’t think that point will help West Brom massively, it is a complete waste of points: they don’t need it, we would have needed it.
“They are happy now, we are not happy. We stay in the league, they don’t stay in the league – it is a strange situation.”
Klopp was also angry due to West Brom not watering their pitch at halftime. The dry pitch helped the Baggies slow down Liverpool, according to Klopp. However, West Brom had every right to not water their own home ground.
“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,” Klopp fumed.
“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.”
Klopp continued his rant about the pitch to Sky Sports’ cameras following the 90 minutes.
“I was not happy with the pitch,’ he said. “It was a tough game, especially after the pitch was getting dryer and dryer and we had the ball constantly so that makes it not so easy.
“West Brom obviously decided not to water the pitch at half-time and it was quite difficult after that.
“You (the interviewer) have never played football obviously, because it makes a massive difference.
“If the pitch is dry you can’t pass the ball through three or four yards.
“That is the easiest thing in the world, if they play football, but if you do it like West Brom the ball is constantly in the air [so] you don’t need a wet pitch but that’s how it is so we have to deal with that.
“They can do it next year playing football with a dry pitch in the Championship. That’s how it is and we have to deal with it.”
Liverpool now face Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Roma defeated Serie A rivals SPAL 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Is Jurgen Klopp grasping at straws with his latest rant about West Brom’s pitch?