Jurgen Klopp has revealed that it was a lack of manpower, not a tactical decision, to only remove snow from half of the pitch during half-time between Liverpool and Leicester.
The Reds boss came under fire during last Wednesday’s Premier League tie, where groundsmen at half-time only cleared snow from the half of the pitch being attacked by Liverpool, leaving Leicester at an apparent disadvantage.
The incident, which ESPN sources have been told did not breach any Premier League rules, was purely incidental according to the German coach, who claims that no one was instructed to give the home side the advantage.
Talking in a press conference on Friday, Klopp said:
When we were warming up it started snowing, but the pitch was completely okay. Then we went in, and when we came out it was like full of hail or wet snow. The pitch was difficult.
The first half we had 80 percent of the ball, so only one team suffered and it was us. It was clear that our ground-staff tried to clear it, but they didn’t have enough man power.
They realised how difficult it was when they started doing it, not before. There was no plan, nobody told them, I can swear, to clear only our side or our box.
I hear people say it’s unsporting, but it’s an advantage, if their box is clear then it’s better to defend. It’s no coincidence that in the first half we scored a goal in a box that was full of snow. That’s how it is, we cannot change it.
In England people are not used to it. In Germany you would give shovels to everybody, even people in the stands would come on the pitch and help, and you would have 15 minutes to clear.
We had even commercial things going on around the pitch — next time, first of all, there will be no commercial if it is snowing, and we will have enough shovels to clear the pitch. That’s football. The heating obviously couldn’t deal with it.
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