Jurgen Klopp gave a terse answer when asked about his heated exchange on the touchline with Mo Salah during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with West Ham.
He left Salah for the crucial visit to London and the Egyptian striker was furious at the decision, with the two having a dispute on the sidelines.
And Salah issued an alarming warning to journalists after the match: ‘if I speak, there will be fire!’
When Klopp brought him on after 79 minutes, Salah responded by waving his arms pointing down the pitch and then signaling to the retreating Klopp.
The striker continued to berate the outgoing Liverpool manager and only stopped his display of discontent when striker Darwin Núñez intervened.
Mohamed Salah and Jurgen Klopp were involved in a heated argument on the bench as the Liverpool star prepared to face West Ham.
It was bad PR during the final weeks of Klopp’s tenure at Liverpool and left fans confused about the breakdown in relations with Salah, however brief.
When asked if he would share what he said on TNT Sports, Klopp replied: “No. But we already talked in the locker room and for me that’s done.”
He was clearly unwilling to shed light on what happened.
He was also reluctant to engage in talks about Liverpool’s title chances.
“To be honest, I’m not in the mood to talk about it or watch it at all,” he said.
“We had to win here, we knew it, we didn’t and now we have a little more time between the next game to try to get the boys ready again.”
Klopp had not only left out Salah for the match, but also Núñez.
Between them, the two strikers had scored three goals in Liverpool’s previous seven Premier League games.
But once again, Liverpool’s profligacy in front of goal haunted them. Despite having 28 shots, they only managed two goals through Andy Robertson and a bizarre West Ham own goal that was ultimately credited to Alphonse Areola.
Klopp added: “Very disappointed, obviously. There was only the possibility of a team winning the game with the chances we created, the possession we had and everything we did. It’s difficult at the end of a really tough period of 10 days and four matches.
“I thought the boys did really well, we just conceded out of nowhere. We needed a few more chances, we had two tough goals to score twice, but with 2-1 up we were able to control it.
“In many moments we played very well, but in the final moments we did not take it the right way and that has been the story of the last four weeks and that is why we tied.”
