Jurgen Klopp believed referee Stuart Attwell could have done more to protect the Liverpool players during the 3-1 win over Burnley.
There were some robust challenges throughout the game, and one saw Joe Gomez having to leave the field on a stretcher.
The English defender had to be replaced by Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Klopp added that the injury to Gomez was not minor.
Speaking after the game, the German said (h/t Independent):
“I said after the first challenge, I don’t know who did it, a sliding tackle from six/seven yards, getting the ball, everybody likes it, I said to the ref ‘it’s no foul but please tell them you cannot do that’.
“Nobody can judge that. You get the ball, nice, but it’s like bowling because you get the player as well. It happened four or five times, everybody likes it, but Joe is injured, and probably not only a little bit.”
The German elaborated that the Englishman injured his ankle during the game.
“We don’t know (how bad) at the moment, we sent him home so we have to see, but it’s his ankle yes. They wanted to be aggressive. Aggression is a part of football. You try something and you need someone to say ‘be careful’.”
Klopp further claimed that someone had to tell the players how to tackle properly and believed the referee has to step in to calm things down.
Unsurprisingly, Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager, didn’t see much wrong with the tackles.
Getting the three points from Turf Moor was never going to be easy, and hopefully, Gomez will not be out for a long time.
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The Englishman has been excellent for us this season alongside Virgil van Dijk, and we have several tough games coming up.
