Jurgen Klopp and a host of Liverpool rivals have lifted the lid on a mysterious pre-match ritual.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has dismissed claims that his habit of stalking opponents from midfield before games is “scary”, at least in general terms.
It comes after Ben Foster and James Tarkowski admitted the habit was a little intimidating.
Klopp’s frequent viewing of opponents before Liverpool games was discussed by former Premier League goalkeeper Foster and Everton defender Tarkovsky on Foster’s Fozcast podcast.
Asked if he took Germany’s presence into account, Tarkowski replied: “Always, because I’m always warming up between warm-ups. I like to be on the edge of heat so I can always feel good and see my glow. For me from the side.
He added: “I’m thinking, ‘You’d better make sure the pass is good’, otherwise he’ll go into the dressing room and say, ‘Tarkowski is warming up, keep playing.’ Foster agreed, saying he too was intimidated by Klopp’s routine.
However, when Foster asked Klopp about it in an Amazon Prime Video interview, Klopp denied that he intended to make a threat.
“That’s not the reason,” he said. I want to see, I want to understand. Sometimes I might see a player limp a little bit, and when I see him do this or that, I try to understand what he’s doing.
“It’s not fun when you’re doing something purely physical, but you’re watching it as it goes by. I only used it once to scare an opponent and it’s not nice to say it, but it was against my old club.
I thought, “Let’s do it because we knew they’d be weird,” but besides, it wouldn’t be good for someone to say they were doing it on purpose (to intimidate them). I’m just looking.”
When Foster told Tarkowski about Klopp’s comments, the former Burnley and Brentford man replied: “It looks like he’s trying, even if he’s not trying. “I think he wants to scare the players because he has a strong attitude,” he said.
Tarkowski appeared in 13 matches against Klopp’s Liverpool, recording 9 defeats, 3 draws and just one win. Foster didn’t fare any better against the Reds, winning just five of 23 games.
