Klopp and Big Sam Exchange Verbal Blows After Nasty Foul

Late in the game, as Liverpool tried to see out their narrow 1-0 advantage over Sunderland, Jeremain Lens made a vicious challenge on Mamadou Sakho. Referee Kevin Friend would have been completely justified in showing the Sunderland midfielder a straight red card for the reckless tackle, but instead he merely produced a yellow card. Welcome to England and the eccentric referee styling of Mr. Friend.

As was the case in a similar situation a few weeks back against West Brom, Klopp had a go at Sunderland's management staff.

"Of course. This is a foul," Klopp explained. "That is not allowed. For me that is a red card, finished. So my staff were emotional, the staff of Sunderland were emotional. If you look on your ticket, it is included. If nothing happens on the pitch, you can watch the bench."

Hopefully Herr Klopp doesn't also become acquainted with the FA's completely and totally consistent fining system for his little disagreement.

So, how did Big Sam respond? By calling Klopp "soft" and then whining about abusive language, naturally.

"He's a soft German if that's a red card. It's a yellow, a foul," Allardyce opined. "There was some foul and abusive language towards my staff that I didn't like. After the end, it was alright though, because we all shook hands and got on with it, which is what you've got to do."

The media are making a mountain out of a molehill over this incident, as they are wont to do. We all know Klopp is an emotional manager, arguably one of his better qualities, but I'm sure this won't be the last run-in with a prototypical British manager.