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Klopp is right to rage at referees - Tierney & Co. must provide consistency in an increasingly uncertain Premier League season

Jurgen Klopp was surprisingly calm, given the circumstances.

A post-match press conference can be an emotional place, especially after a game as pulsating and as controversial as Liverpool’s at Tottenham on Sunday.

And had the Reds boss gone off on a rant, plenty would have understood.

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His side, after all, had dropped two potentially crucial points in the Premier League title race, drawing 2-2 having led with 20 minutes to go. With Manchester City winning earlier in the day, and looking ominous of late, it would have felt like a defeat.

Liverpool had battled gamely, despite seeing their preparations hit by a coronavirus outbreak within the squad. Four senior players were absent, and even one of those who returned a negative test on Sunday, Jordan Henderson, was too ill to feature in north London.

And then there was the refereeing.

That, really, was THE talking point from Sunday, as far as Klopp was concerned. The performance of Paul Tierney, and the apparent inconsistency of the VAR, Chris Kavanagh, had him scratching his head, bowing sarcastically and smiling the kind of smile that suggested he would quite like to throttle the man with the whistle, the man in Stockley Park, or both.

Liverpool certainly had reason to feel aggrieved. Not with the red card shown to Andy Robertson after his ill-advised swipe at Emerson Royal - “not the smartest challenge he ever made,” admitted Klopp, while Robertson later apologised via social media - but certainly with the game’s two other key decisions, both of which went against them.

Jurgen Klopp Liverpool quote GFXGetty/GOAL

How Harry Kane avoided a red card for his studs-up lunge on Robertson in the first half, for example, is anyone’s guess. England captain privileges, perhaps?

“I thought I won the ball,” said the Spurs striker, somehow managing to keep a straight face. Klopp, meanwhile, pointed out that had Robertson’s leg been planted on the ground - thankfully it wasn’t - then he might have suffered a serious injury.

“It was 100 per cent a red card,” he added, and he was spot on.

VAR did not intervene in that incident, despite Tierney deeming the tackle worthy of a yellow card on the field - why yellow? - and it was absent again later in the half when Royal barged Diogo Jota over in the penalty area, just as the Reds forward was preparing to pull the trigger.

It looked a blatant penalty, and had the spot-kick been awarded, then Royal may have been looking at a second yellow card too. Instead, Tierney gave nothing and VAR again remained silent.

“We thought he might not be in his office,” joked Klopp.

His was one of 10 cards shown by Tierney, Klopp reacting to his yellow by bowing. For a moment, it seemed as though he might be sent to the stands, only for the referee to relent.

Jurgen Klopp Liverpool GFXGetty/GOAL

“[With] the penalty situation, Mr Tierney told me that he thought Diogo Jota stopped on purpose [because] he wanted to get hit,” Klopp later said.

“If you watch this situation back, that's a very exclusive view. It's a clear penalty, but he thought it's clearly not a penalty. Wow.

“That's obviously two wrong decisions of his, I would say, and one right – all three against us.”

At the final whistle, Klopp was picked up by the Sky Sports cameras in discussion with Tierney.

“I have no problem with referees, only you,” he said. One imagines a few officials might disagree with that particular statement, mind. Fourth official Andre Marriner for one; Klopp has clashed with him in the past, and he is not alone.

Few elite managers are good losers, of course, and Klopp’s frustration speaks to the pressure he and his side are under this season, both physically and mentally, as they seek to maintain a title push while dealing with the unique challenges of this pandemic-affected campaign.

Sunday need not be a decisive blow, but Liverpool know they can ill-afford many more, with City looking as strong and as ruthless now as they have for some time. A three-point gap is manageable, anything more looks daunting.

It remains to be seen how the Premier League will manage its Christmas fixture list. It seems absurd that all three scheduled matchdays between December 26 and January 3 will go ahead as planned. There were six games postponed this past weekend, and more will surely follow.

Liverpool are also due to play a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Leicester City on Wednesday, and lord only knows what kind of side they will have available for that one. They fielded an Under-23s team at this stage of the competition in 2019, and it would not be a huge surprise if they did something similar this time.

“We play football as long as people tell us to,” said Klopp on Sunday, though he admitted that the uncertainty surrounding postponements and positive Covid cases made planning effectively for games nigh-on impossible.

“It’s tough, it’s absolutely tough,” he said.

Even more so, with decisions like the ones Tierney and Co. made at Tottenham.

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