Jürgen Klopp “Couldn’t Avoid” Everton Celebration

Yesterday, Jürgen Klopp was charged with misconduct by the FA for his celebration of Liverpool’s 96th minute winner against Everton in the Merseyside Derby. He did not contest the charge and it was confirmed today that he had been hit with an £8k fine.

It’s a slap on the wrist and, assuming he doesn’t do anything deemed worse by the FA before the season ends, that will be the end of it—and for his part, Klopp was quick to laugh off the entire situation at his pre-match press conference this afternoon.

“To be honest I couldn’t avoid it,” he said. “If everybody would do it every week it would be a problem, so if you break the rules you have to be fined and it’s completely normal. The last time I did it was 14 years ago—so I’m probably not as quick any more.”

He was quick, though, to move past the issue. Everton, and his celebration against them, was in the past. It will probably show up on every sizzle reel the Premier League runs over the holidays, but for Klopp and Liverpool the only focus now is on Burnley.

And on that front, Klopp says that while Liverpool have sometimes been guilty of lingering on a previous big game and failing to perform against a struggling side in the next, that this group has the experience to avoid what might in the past have been a trap game.

“We’re long enough together that we know about the specific challenge of a game like Burnley,” he added. “It’s always a tough place to go. We have to make sure that we’re ready and it was clear before the season we would have to be ready every three days.

“It was brilliant in the dressing room after. There’s nothing negative in winning late against Everton and we feel in a good moment. But we’re not children—we don’t have to celebrate something for five days.”