Jurgen Klopp launches rant on BT Sport and BLAMES the broadcaster for causing James Milner’s injury

Jurgen Klopp and BT Sport reporter Des Kelly endured a heated war of words after the Liverpool boss once again savaged broadcasters for his side’s hectic scheduling.

James Milner was forced off with a hamstring strain in the champions’ draw with Brighton on Saturday to add to the team’s mounting injury woes – and Klopp once again took aim at TV companies with an extraordinary post-match rampage.

A clearly furious Klopp directly pinned Milner’s injury during the lunchtime action on BT Sport in scathing fashion and jousted verbally with Kelly.

Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez picked up serious, and long-term, knee injuries this season, while Trent Alexander-Arnold was also absent at the Amex due to a calf issue.

Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are just a handful of other Liverpool stars who have also been sidelined during the course of the current campaign.   

And when questioned over the severity of the latest setback, Klopp sarcastically said ‘congratulations’ and continued his steadfast stance over the toll the fixture congestion is taking on his players.

‘Well you work for them,’ he told Kelly and BT Sport. ‘Ask Chris Wilder how we can work on that. I don’t know how often I have to say it, but you pick the 12:30 kick offs. 

‘Between now and December there is one more Wednesday, Saturday. These are difficult times. I am just saying it how it is. Wednesday to Saturday 12:30 is really dangerous.’

The jibe at Sheffield United manager Wilder came after Klopp as accused of being ‘selfish’ and a ‘politician’ for demanding the five substitution rule be introduced to help ease the burden on stars.  

Kelly, an experienced anchor and interviewer, opted to stand his ground against Klopp’s accusation, however, and insisted that the issue surrounding the league’s relentless calendar was no fault of the broadcasters.

But despite Kelly’s explanation that the Premier League hold the final say, Klopp fired back once again as part of his eight-minute rampage.

He added: ‘Why did you pick us against Crystal Palace then? You rely on things we agreed in another time. When we had the talk between the managers a week ago, it was 15-5 if not 16-4 for five subs, since then nothing happened. 

‘You need 14 votes but Chris Wilder said I am selfish. I think all the things he said is selfish too. But it was a similar situation for me at Mainz as well.’

Klopp has loudly appealed for top flight clubs to be able to make two more changes in matches in the midst of his mounting list of absentees. He did, however, concede recently that his vocal cries for help were a ‘waste of time’.

‘If you can do five subs in a game like this it is not for tactical reasons, it is to save players,’ he said. ‘If I had five subs today I would have subbed Robbo (Andrew Robertson) for (Kostas) Tsimikas. 

‘From now on until December we will see what happens. I’m sure 100 per cent you will get praise from this interview for getting it stuck on him. I wanted to stop doing it because it doesn’t help. 

‘The problem is we have a contract we signed the contract. In this season it’s a bigger problem because of no pre-season and all this kind of stuff. Then I say it is not okay. Have a look how many teams had this slot three times until December.’

A miserable afternoon for Liverpool was capped off when Brighton earned a share of the spoils with a stoppage-time penalty. 

Robertson’s trip on Danny Welbeck was deemed to be worthy of a spot-kick by referee Stuart Attwell after a lengthy VAR check – and Pascal Gross netted the late leveller. 

Klopp was keen to avoid further headlines over the altercation, adding: ‘The penalty, it is what it is, I thought the decisions were right. 

‘You try to create a headline, because that is how it is. I said it is not, but you try and you try. What do you want to hear? Give the answers yourself.’