It appears as though the shackles are off for Jurgen Klopp as he approaches his final two weeks as Liverpool manager.
The German announced in January that he would depart his role at the end of the season and, though the team's form has dipped dramatically in recent weeks, they will hope to finish the season on a high for their long-serving manager.
Klopp has appeared weary of late, exhibiting signs of the tiredness he declared as the main cause for his resignation back in January. It appears, however, that he is now ready to allow that weariness come through in firing some parting shots during his final days as Liverpool boss.
Speaking at his weekly press conference on Friday, Klopp once again raised the issue of Liverpool's repeated Saturday 12:30 fixtures - and took a remarkable and bizarre pop at TNT Sports, saying that he was waiting for Amnesty International to get involved in the situation.
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Jurgen Klopp takes aim at TNT Sports in press conference rant
It was a theme which pervaded throughout last season, and Jurgen Klopp's stance against 12:30 kick-offs has not altered one bit this campaign.
Klopp will not have been calmed by the frequency with which Liverpool have landed in the slot this season, especially in the aftermath of international breaks. The German coach clashed with journalists earlier this season when calling out the frequency of his team's inconvenient scheduling.
He went even further on Friday afternoon.
"I was waiting for Amnesty International to go to them" 😬
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says the fixture scheduling is "a crime" 👇 pic.twitter.com/jS22y2eCuj— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 3, 2024
Facing the media, Klopp was asked to comment on the likelihood that there will be no English teams in any European finals this year, after Aston Villa's calamitous 4-2 home loss against Olympiacos on Thursday. Klopp chose to once again take a dig at the scheduling trends in English football, blaming the continental underperformance on TNT Sports in spectacular fashion:
If no English team is in a European final, have we underperformed? The Premier League is the best in the world but the players are overworked. Someone needs to help the people, cut off one game.
I had a chat with TNT – a television channel I will never watch again! – and they said they pay us to play football but I don’t see it that way. Football pays them. You have to become a part of football again and not just the squeezer, that is some advice from an old man on the way out.
People can survive without matchdays from time to time. City, Arsenal, us all out in the quarter-finals. It’s not a reflection of quality but that we couldn’t deliver on the day. Other countries have good teams, of course.
When I speak about it people think it is because of the last game, no. It’s not. It’s a general problem. They dare Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday 12:30pm. It is a crime. I was waiting for Amnesty International to go to them!
In the whole world we have the quickest turnaround between games but they are still happy and collect subscribers. You can take me off. If they are ever after a pundit, I speak English I could do it.
This is most certainly Jurgen Klopp's strongest tirade against 12:30pm kick-offs - and he is not the only person within the club who has raised the issue of late.
Just last week, club captain Virgil van Dijk was criticised by Wayne Rooney for bringing up the kick-off time immediately after Everton won out in the Merseyside derby.
Thankfully for van Dijk and Klopp, Liverpool will not have to contend with an early start this weekend. They face Spurs at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, with kick-off at 4:30pm - and the game live on Sky Sports, rather than Klopp's much-maligned TNT Sports.
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