Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp is scoffing at the claims that his remarks criticizing the owners of Newcastle United, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain are xenophobic.
Klopp’s initial remarks were due to the financial power of Gulf state-owned clubs before this past Sunday’s 1-0 win over Manchester City. In his prematch interview, the German tactician stated that Liverpool could not compete with three clubs who can “do what they want” financially.
After Klopp made the comments, the Liverpool boss faced accusations of xenophobia. As a result, the 55-year-old rebuked any speculation about whether his remarks were xenophobic.
“I don’t feel, in this specific case, I don’t feel it at all,” Klopp said (h/t The Guardian). “I know myself. And you cannot hit me with something which is miles away from my personality. If I was – I cannot remember the word [xenophobic] – like this I would hate it.
“I would hate myself for being like this. I have said a lot of times things that were a little bit open for misunderstanding, I know that. It was not intentionally; just sometimes you say things and you think: ‘Oh my God, it can be interpreted like this!’ But this is not one of these moments.”
Furthermore, Klopp believes his review of the financial status at Manchester City, Newcastle and PSG has been deliberately misunderstood.
“That is the life of people who speak in public,” Klopp added. “It is not the first time I am misunderstood. I know what I thought when I said it. If someone misunderstands that, or wants to misunderstand that, I cannot change that.
“Do I have to be careful? I have known for years that I am not always careful. I realize as well from time to time that I just answer and say what I think. I try to do that in the future as well because usually it is never my aim to blame anybody or whatever, I just talk about things that I think are not that important in life actually. I say what I know about it, how I judge it or how I see it. I cannot change that. Nothing of the things that were made of it were my intention.”
There’s no doubt that these clubs are being used to advance these country’s images, as it’s not only to own a football club, just to own it. It will be interesting to see if anyone at PSG feels the need to respond to these remarks made by Klopp.
