Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool need four more victories to win the Premier League title. (Source: Reuters)
Moments after Liverpool’s FA Cup exit at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, Jurgen Klopp made it clear that his opinion on the coronavirus scare does not matter as he was merely someone with a baseball cap and a bad shave.
The 52-year-old Liverpool manager was asked whether his team was worried about the spread of the flu-like virus in the post-match press-conference of Liverpool’s 2-0 fifth-round defeat to Chelsea.
“Look, what I don’t like in life is that (for) a very serious thing, a football manager’s opinion is important. I don’t understand it,” said Klopp.
“It’s not important what famous people say. You have to speak about things in the right manner. Not people with no knowledge, like me, talking about something.”
“I wear a baseball cap and have a bad shave!” 😂
Jurgen Klopp took exception to this reporter’s question about the Coronavirus 😅👀 pic.twitter.com/KOz2DIVdKl
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) March 3, 2020
The virus, which originated in Wuhan, China around two months back, has already killed over 3,000 people globally and infected almost 91,000, prompting a number of football clubs in Europe to ask their players, staff, and officials not to shake hands in an attempt to slow its spread.
“People with knowledge should tell people to do this, do that and everything will be fine, or not. Not football managers,” Klopp added.
EXPLAINED | How to handle the coronavirus (COVID-19) scare
“I don’t understand politics, coronavirus… why me? I wear a baseball cap and have a bad shave.”
Earlier, when the German was asked whether Liverpool could miss out on winning a first Premier League title due to the coronavirus outbreak before their 3-0 loss to Watford, he had laughed it off.
“Liverpool fans are not silly enough to believe in these things”
A brilliant response from Klopp on pathetic suggestions that the Premier League season could be erased due to Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/OxnWqsCMwg
— This Is Anfield (@thisisanfield) March 2, 2020
Because of the virus, so far 10 Serie A matches have been postponed over the last two weeks and other sporting events have been affected too worldwide, ranging from Tokyo Olympic qualifiers to Formula One events.
Liverpool, who have now lost their last three in four in all competitions, will look to get back to winning ways when they host Bournemouth on Saturday.