Jurgen Klopp has played down his exchange with Bruno Fernandes after Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
Liverpool are still searching for their first win of the new Premier League season as goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford gave United the lead.
Mohamed Salah pulled a goal back for Liverpool but they were unable to salvage a point from the game.
Fernandes and Salah were involved in an altercation after he Portugal international refused to give the ball to the Liverpool forward after scoring, while Klopp appeared frustrated with United’s timewasting in the final stages.
After the final whistle, Klopp approached Fernandes and put his hands around the neck of the United midfielder as the pair shared a few light-hearted words.
When asked about his initial exchange with Fernandes during the game, Klopp said during his post-match press conference: ‘It was not animated.
‘It was the most harmless conversation I’ve ever had with a player who was as emotional as I maybe was.
‘It was the situation with the centre half, [Lisandro] Martinez, where we went down for an “awful” tackle, it was obviously nothing, he made a bit of it, and then he was talking to me and saying, ‘you would do the same’.
‘But it was all fine after the game, he told me he needs these kind of conversations, okay, it’s all fine, use me.’
Klopp also played down the spat between James Milner and Virgil van Dijk in the aftermath of Sancho’s opening goal.
‘I realise now, I didn’t even see it, but I think it [the question] is about an argument on the pitch or whatever, shouting at each other and these kind of things,’ said Klopp.
‘We don’t have any kind of issues, I have not any kind of issues in the team like this. That nobody is happy after you lose a game is completely normal, but this is not an explanation, not an excuse or whatever.
‘It’s all fine there, in this department.’
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