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Remember when real football you actually cared about was on? With the league clash with bottom half Manchester United ages away, Reds supporters are forced to turn to highlights and re-runs to get their Liverpool fix.
Last week’s 4-3 maiden victory of the Champions League campaign over Red Bull Salzburg might not make the most pleasant viewing, however. Up 3-1 at halftime of a dominant Anfield display, Liverpool inexplicably squandered the lead in the second frame, needing a last-gasp winner from Mohamed Salah to take the suddenly vital three points.
Interestingly enough, part of the impetus for the visitors’ impressive second half fight back via goals from Takumi Minamino and Erling Braut Haaland was revealed to have been a fiery, expletive-riddled halftime speech from Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch.
Great insight into the half-time talk from Jesse Marsch in their game vs Liverpool.
— Darian Wilken (@CoachDarian) October 3, 2019
Interesting to note the emphasis placed group cohesion and re-aligning mentality before addressing any tactical components. pic.twitter.com/unNplaA25U
**Warning: this video contains explicit language**
The footage was filmed as part of a documentary about the Austrian champions, with the club electing to release the clip of the speech early to celebrate the team’s laudable performance.
Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp is himself renowned for the close bonds he builds with his players, with retellings of the German’s locker room speeches in big games such as the famous 4-0 victory over Barcelona in last year’s Champions League semifinal already the stuff of living legend.
However, the 52-year-old put an end to some LFC PR staffer’s dream when asked whether he would ever have allowed footage of those team talks to have even been filmed, talk less of actually being released, mirthlessly telling reporters that:
“If LFC would put a video out with me in a situation like that, I would leave the club.
“That’s the truth. That’s all I can say about that.”
Marsch, for one, has admitted that while the R-rated speech didn’t exactly make for “pleasant” viewing, the release of the clip was primarily to display his side’s authenticity.
“It’s for people to see what’s happening right now,” the American defended the clip, speaking to the Daily Mail. “It was not so pleasant for us all. But it is real. This is us.
“From the beginning, I’ve heard in Europe, and I’ve seen that the dressing room is closed and only for the team. Yes, that’s also true for me.
“It’s not always pleasant, but I think people appreciate that.”
Klopp, it should be said, is also known to be partial to a well-deployed f-bomb here and there, sometimes at hilariously-inappropriate venues:
**Warning: Also strong language…but it’s Kloppo so it’s OK.**
However, the German mastermind has also reportedly refused to allow cameras into the sacred domains where he and his players are their most candid, despite he being the one manager in the world football fans would want to have a camera on at all times.
I guess we’ll just have to imagine the tirades.