liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp recently made some light-hearted comments about former Manchester United player Gary Neville and his brother Phil. In response, Rio Ferdinand, who played with the Neville brothers during their time at Manchester United, defended his former teammates on social media.
Following Liverpool’s Europa League win over Union Saint-Gillois, Klopp expressed his thoughts about a meeting between the two siblings from opposing teams.
“It’s the first time that two brothers played against each other in world football or whatever it felt like , It’s a really good story,” Klopp said. His comments were probably a cheeky reference to the media’s over-excitement about the McAllister brothers going head-to-head, but the comment meant that he ‘ignored’ the fact that there was a feud between the Neville brothers when Phil played for Everton. When he left to join Manchester United, they faced each other.
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When Klopp was informed of this, he jokingly apologized, saying: “Apparently no one was interested in it. Sorry, it was a penalty I had to take!”
Ferdinand wasted no time in responding to Klopp’s joke. He quoted Klopp’s comments on social media and reminded him of the Neville brothers’ impressive record, saying: “Only 14 Premier League titles between the Neville families” with a laughing emoji.
Liverpool’s victory over Union Saint-Gillois marked a return to winning ways in Europe after a controversial defeat against Tottenham. Klopp is determined to “put things right” in the upcoming match against Brighton, a team that has already beaten Liverpool twice this year. Despite the previous defeat, Klopp is confident that his team will play differently this time.
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In his pre-match press conference before the Brighton game, Klopp acknowledged the challenge they would face but expressed optimism about an improved performance. He said: “If we play like last year, we’ll have big innings again, but I think we’ll play better.
“This is the first step. We have to get some things right. We must not let this happen again. It could happen – because they are really good – but we will make a really big effort to make sure that doesn’t happen. “
Liverpool.com says: Klopp was clearly joking but it didn’t take long for Ferdinand to join in!
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This article was generated with the help of AI tools, based on a piece first written by Dan Marsh for the Daily Mirror. You can read the original excerpt by clicking here. A news editor from Liverpool.com reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to matt.addison@reachplc.com.