The Telegraph’s James Ducker admitted his perplexity after Jurgen Klopp avoided a touchline ban for his actions towards referees during Liverpool’s loss to Manchester City earlier this month.
The German strategist was outraged after Mo Salah was not awarded a foul and, after confronting the linesman, was shown a red card and referee Anthony Taylor led him off the touchline.
Many had expected the 55-year-old to serve at least a one-game touchline ban for his antics, but the FA has now confirmed he will be fined £30,000 instead, something that greatly flummoxed Ducker.
“I find it amazing that Klopp escapes a touchline ban,” tweeted The Telegraph’s Northern Football correspondent. “What kind of message does that send? All the encouragement grassroots assholes need to keep behaving like jerks on a weekend. The sooner football adopts rugby’s approach to referee abuse, the better.”
READ MORE: ‘The big one for me’: Former PL man explains which player makes Liverpool ‘score’ as he discusses the Reds’ slow start to the season
While we understand that the behavior of many involved in the game at all levels can be unacceptable at times, the incident that sparked such anger from Klopp was so easily avoidable.
Salah almost ripped Bernardo Silva’s shirt off his chest and it was extremely surprising to see that neither the linesman nor the referee detected the foul.
Emotions can get the best of people, especially during a game of that magnitude, and Klopp later admitted that he crossed the line with his actions.
The former Borussia Dortmund manager will now be on the touchline for Leeds United’s visit to Anfield on Saturday.
You can see Ducker’s tweet below via his official Twitter account:
He finds it amazing that Klopp escaped a touchline ban. What kind of message does that send? All the encouragement grassroots assholes need to keep behaving like jerks on a weekend. The sooner football adopts rugby’s approach to abuse of officials, the better
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) October 27, 2022
