Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch has slammed the FA for their decision to fine Jurgen Klopp for his wild celebrations in the wake of the Reds’ Merseyside derby victory last weekend.
The German sprinted onto the pitch to exalt in his side’s last minute winner over the Toffees, a clear breach of Premier League rules, but something that has caused heated debate this week.
Crouch is in disagreement with the verdict: “How could they charge him? I asked myself that question when I heard Jurgen Klopp had got a call from the FA,” he wrote in his Daily Mail column. “Klopp got caught up in the moment, but was it that big a deal?
“I know the £8,000 punishment he received was not excessive but, still, I don’t think it was necessary. It felt, in some ways, as if they were being killjoys. If Liverpool win the league, footage of Klopp’s sprint against Everton will be on a loop. By fining him, are we now saying we don’t want to see this from managers any more? I hope not. We don’t want passion and emotion diluted,” he finished.
OPINION
This is an interesting one. Everybody loves to see passion and excitement from managers and players, and Klopp is one of those bosses who can’t hide his emotions. When he’s happy he’s seriously happy and you saw that against Everton last weekend. It was a last minute winner for goodness sake, of course he was going to celebrate. He might have gone a bit overboard, of course, and if you are an Everton fan you will have hated seeing it but for everybody else it was wonderful to watch. Having said that, he did break Premier League rules. Managers aren’t allowed out of their technical areas or the dugout, let alone onto the pitch. Obviously he was caught up in the moment but by the letter of the law he did deserve a fine. However, we don’t want passion taken out of football so perhaps the laws need to be re-examined in light of this incident. It certainly sounds as if Crouch would be in favour of that solution.
