Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp takes down Twitter critic Raymond Verheijen with sly dig

Verheijen has openly criticised Klopp in the past for the club's history of injuries - but the German had the last laugh in his Friday press conference 

Samuel Lovett
Friday 14 October 2016 14:53 BST
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Jurgen Klopp took down one of his most vocal critics in style
Jurgen Klopp took down one of his most vocal critics in style

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hit out against coach Raymond Verheijen in response to the Dutchman’s repeated criticism of the club’s injury history.

While complaining about the rescheduled fixture calendar for December and January, Klopp said in Friday’s press conference that “some Dutch guy will say things” on Twitter if his players picked up an injury during the Christmas period.

As a result of the fixture changes, Liverpool have been left with less than 48 hours between playing Manchester City and Sunderland.

The Reds will now face City on Saturday 31 December before running out against the Black Cats two days later on Monday 2 January.

The German vented his dissatisfaction with the schedule, remarking that “I’m not too happy in this moment”.

But it was his hilarious dig against Verheijen that has drawn the biggest reaction.

“I don’t know if we can do anything,” Klopp said. “We have less than 48 hours between games. Then this Dutch guy, the funny athletic coach [Raymond Verheijen] says ‘training is not too good’…How can you prepare teams for this?”

“I would never say Boxing Day is a bad idea—I love it. But I don’t know why we play on Jan 2. Is it a special day?”

The German added: “Everybody asks why England aren’t too successful in big tournaments. All other countries watch English football at this time.”

Verheijen took to Twitter to respond to the German’s remarks.

“Liverpool manager Klopp cause 20 hamstring injuries in 10 months but keeps blaming external factors for injuries…”

The Dutchman has been vocal with his criticism towards Klopp in the past and last December tweeted 19 posts explaining what the German had done wrong at Anfield since arriving.

Verheijen tweeted: “It will be interesting to keep an eye on Liverpool in the upcoming weeks as they are about to hit an injury crisis under new manager Klopp.”

Despite his criticisms over the past year, Liverpool have enjoyed an emphatic start to the new season.

The Reds currently sit fourth in the league with an opportunity to go top on Monday should results go their way elsewhere.

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