I could have been punished for outburst, admits Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he may have been lucky to avoid punishment for his outburst at a fourth official but does not agree with Jose Mourinho that the Manchester United boss is treated differently.

Klopp apologised following Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea after a touchline exchange with Neil Swarbrick saw him vent his frustration at the award of a penalty to Diego Costa.

Simon Mignolet saved the subsequent spot-kick and Klopp shouted: “No-one can beat us” at the official who responded, according to the German, by saying: “No problem, I like your passion”.

After a goalless draw at home to Hull on Wednesday, an unhappy Mourinho suggested he was treated differently.

“Yesterday one fourth official told to a manager: ‘I enjoy very much your passion, so do what you want to do’. Today I was told: ‘Sit down or I have to send you to the stands’. So everything is different for me,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference.

Klopp believes everyone is treated differently because no two officials or managers are the same but accepts he was fortunate not to be pulled up for his actions.

“I think it depends on the fourth official. We all know what we can do,” said Klopp. “When I saw the picture (of Klopp shouting at the fourth official) afterwards it didn’t look too nice but it was not as bad as it looked, so that is why I said what happened.

“Maybe I was lucky with what the fourth official said because I’ve never heard something like this before. There are different ways to handle the situation.

“It is quite an emotional game and to switch off emotions is not that simple.

“We struggle — not only myself and Jose but Arsene Wenger and a lot of other people struggle. We are all different; sometimes we get a fine, sometimes not. It’s not what we want to do nor is it a tactic.

“It was worse with me when I was younger. I have already improved but I had no idea why he (Mourinho) spoke about me.”

Arsenal boss Wenger is currently serving a four-match ban for using insulting or abusive words to a fourth official while Mourinho has served two suspensions this season and a stadium exclusion last term.

While Klopp was arguing on the touchline on Tuesday night, Liverpool’s out-of-favour defender Mamadou Sakho was completing a loan move to Crystal Palace.

The France international has not featured for the first team since being sent home early from a pre-season training camp in the United States after Klopp took issue with the player’s attitude after a number of incidents.

Sakho rejected the chance to go on loan in August despite being told he would not be featuring in the manager’s plans and so was made to train and play with the U23 squad.

Liverpool were keen to offload the centre-back in January for somewhere in the region of £20m (€23.3m) but with no takers a loan was the next best option with Palace paying a £2m (€2.3m) fee and all of the Frenchman’s wages.

It is widely thought that Sakho has no future at the club, but Klopp refused to confirm the player’s Anfield career was officially over.

“Who knows what happens in half a year? We’ve (the team) felt already what changed in one month and there is another five to go,” the Reds boss added, referring to a miserable January which saw them win one match in nine.

“He should concentrate on the job at Palace and we should concentrate on the job here.

“At the moment he is on loan and he still has a contract at Liverpool but that is not the thing we talk or think about at this moment.

“It is a solution for the moment and we can wait for new impressions and what happens.”