Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s farewell season is turning into a nightmare as the Reds are just facing probleem after probleem.
Witnessing their title hopes suffering a Hammer blow following a 2-2 draw with West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday, coach Klopp (who will be replaced by Feyenoord’s Arne Slot at the end of the season after the two clubs had reportedly reached an agreement over the move at the weekend) had to put out fires about a spat with star man Mo Salah.
Salah appeared to have a heated exchange with manager Klopp shortly before he was brought on as a second-half substitute in the 79th minute.
Michail Antonio had just equalised for the Hammers with a header after Jarrod Bowen nodded in the opener for his 20th goal of the season in his 200th game for the Hammers, with
Andy Robertson scoring three minutes after the break for the Reds before Cody Gakpo’s sliced effort bounced off Angelo Ogbonna before Tomas Soucek’s attempted clearance hit the unfortunate Alphonse Areola and crossed the line.
Salah, sent on with 11 minutes to go, appeared angry with Klopp and continued to remonstrate with his manager as fellow substitute Darwin Nunez pushed him away from the German.
Klopp tried to play down the incident, saying: “We spoke about that in the dressing room and it’s done for me, that’s all.”
But Salah seems to have a different perspective and refused interviews with reporters in the mixed zone, saying: “There’s going to be fire today if I speak.”
Saturday’s draw further dented Liverpool's already slim chances of winning the Premier League in Klopp’s final season with the club and leaves them reliant on rivals Arsenal and Manchester City dropping points in the run-in.
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