Liverpool boss Klopp recently expressed his frustrations after his side lost to Southampton, saying of Andre Marriner: “What he did with Sadio Mane tonight, I’m not sure that’s OK to be honest.”
The irritated German also said: “I hear now that Man United had more penalties in two years than I had in five-and-a-half years. I’ve no idea if that’s my fault, or how that can happen.”
But former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg this weekend responded to the German, branding him a “hypocrite” for such comments.
Clattenburg wrote for Sportsmail: “He sounds like a hypocrite if he is suggesting United’s players are looking to win penalties. The likes of Mo Salah and [Sadio] Mane are just as capable of employing similar tactics.
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“He is clearly getting edgy, though, because not since Sir Alex Ferguson have we seen such a blatant attempt to influence a referee ahead of a big game. Klopp wasn’t doing this last season when Liverpool were winning every week.
“He does not like losing, he never has. He gets prickly. But he is wrong to suggest there is an aura around United that sees them given favourable decisions. There used to be when Fergie was there, but that has eased massively since he left.”
The Geordie official also said: “Klopp must be getting worried, because his comments last week about Manchester United and penalties were straight out of Fergie’s playbook.