Jurgen Klopp feels ‘the red card wasn’t a red card’ despite the headbutt (Picture: BT Sport/Getty)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has urged the Premier League to ‘play the game again’ between Fulham and Aston Villa following Steven Gerrard’s sacking.
Douglas Luiz was sent off for headbutting Aleksandar Mitrovic on 62 minutes after Harrison Reed put Fulham 1-0 up but Klopp feels ‘the red card wasn’t a red card’.
Mitrovic doubled Fulham’s lead before Tyrone Mings’ own goal made it 3-0 to the west London club, with Villa sacking Liverpool legend Gerrard after the match.
Villa fans were heard chanting ‘we want Gerrard out’ and ‘you’ll never work again’ as well as ‘he slipped on his f****** a***’ – in reference to the the former midfielder’s famous mistake in the in 2013-14 season for Liverpool against Chelsea, as the Reds eventually missed out on the Premier League title.
Many had tipped Gerrard to one day succeed Klopp as Liverpool manager and speaking about his dismissal on Saturday, the German said: ‘For me it’s obviously different, I never got the sack.
‘I cannot really explain why I had difficult situations at my previous clubs and I never got the feeling that really somebody wanted me to be out, that’s my situation.
‘Apart from that, the pressure you make on yourself is much bigger than the outside world can ever do.
‘So if I felt that, I would be the first one to put my arm up and say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, that’s it for me 100 per cent’ – but as long as that’s not the case my job is to find solutions and not hide away.
‘With Stevie now at Aston Villa everything got a bit nervous. You notice that even from the outside not being inside you thought, ‘OK that could be tricky now’.
‘I heard now the red card wasn’t a red card. WOW, that’s really crazy. You see how tiny… play the game again, play the game again.
‘It’s really, really tough so the pressure is there of course but the inside pressure is much bigger than the outside pressure. I never listened.
‘When I reacted to Didi Hamann it was not because he mentioned that I could get sacked, it was about all the other things he said over the years. I was just in the mood.’
MORE : Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp sends message to Steven Gerrard after Aston Villa sacking
MORE : Steven Gerrard vowed to fight on just minutes before losing Aston Villa job
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He headbutted Aleksandar Mitrovic…