Jurgen Klopp has VERY awkward press conference showdown with Dutch reporter he quizzed over Jordan Henderson’s ‘terrible’ interview as Liverpool boss stands up for his ex-captain
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was involved in an awkward press conference exchange with a Dutch journalist whom he wrongly suspected of carrying out a brutal interrogation of Jordan Henderson.
The former Liverpool captain, now at Ajax in the Netherlands, was grilled in a tense TV interview after a 2-2 home draw with Fortuna Sittard on 10 March.
It came a few days before a 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League, one of many low points in a disastrous season for the Amsterdam club, who sit 33 points behind Eredivisie leaders PSV.
Klopp had clearly seen the excruciating interview with Henderson and, speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Europa League quarter-final with Atalanta, took a Dutch reporter to task.
‘You’re not the one who interviewed Jordan Henderson, are you?’ an annoyed-looking Klopp asked the reporter.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was involved in an awkward exchange with a Dutch reporter who he believed had conducted a brutal interview with Jordan Henderson a few weeks ago.
Henderson was Klopp’s captain at Liverpool and he clearly wanted to defend his honor
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“No, it was my colleague,” came the reply from the back of the room.
That didn’t seem to satisfy Klopp, who looked determined to stick up for Henderson. “Is he a friend of yours?” asked the German coach before bursting into laughter.
“What a terrible interview that was,” Klopp opined. “Do you know anyone who would like it?”
The reporter said: ‘I spoke to him (his colleague) and he kind of regretted the interview, he was a bit too harsh. He said it all on TV.’
Klopp replied: ‘Wow, okay. I accept that apology on behalf of Hendo.’
In the no-nonsense interview with Henderson last month, the journalist opened by asking: ‘Was this the worst game since you’ve been here and maybe your worst performance?’
Henderson smiles wryly before answering: ‘No, because we didn’t lose. As you just asked us before the camera came on. It’s always worse when you lose the match.’
The uncompromising emissary continues, ‘but was it a poor performance?’
Henderson, who joined Ajax in January, was stunned by the direct line of questioning after the team salvaged a late 2-2 draw against Fortuna Sittard on March 10
Klopp asked the Dutch reporter as he previewed Liverpool’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Atalanta on Thursday
England midfielder Henderson says: ‘It wasn’t our best performance but we knew it was going to be a tough game. We played only three days ago against a good team in Villa.
‘It’s always difficult but we kept going and sometimes when you don’t play well it’s good that you don’t lose.’
The reporter, speaking in English, ventures that there were too many sideways passes, to which Henderson happily agrees that Ajax could have created more.
Returning to his original line of questioning, the reporter repeats: ‘You said you didn’t perform well, so can I call it a poor performance?
“You can call it what you want,” Henderson says.
Ajax had managed to salvage a point against mid-table Fortuna thanks to Brian Brobbey’s late equaliser.
Their dire season reached a new nadir on Sunday when they were hammered 6-0 by bitter rivals Feyenoord, their heaviest Eredivisie loss ever.
That result left Ajax in sixth place in the table, with any hope of qualifying for the Champions League next season extinguished.
The defeat came just days after Ajax suspended their new chief executive Alex Kroes following ‘indications that he engaged in insider trading.’
Kroes was appointed by the Dutch side last summer but was only able to begin his duties in Amsterdam last month due to contract complications with former club AZ Alkmaar.
Ajax issued a statement last Tuesday morning saying it had learned Kroes bought over 17,000 shares in the week before he was scheduled to be appointed at the beginning of August last year, adding that it “suggests , that he probably engaged in insider trading”.
Ajax – who have already dealt with a wave of dismal results, fan protests and two sackings, said they intend to terminate his contract permanently – insisting his position is now ‘untenable’.
Ajax have already suffered through a nightmare season that has seen them sack Maurice Steijn as manager after a disastrous set of results in October that left them in the Eredivisie relegation zone with just five points – their worst run since 1954.
There has been fury from fans and also protests when a match against Feyenoord was abandoned in September after flares and fireworks were thrown onto the pitch when they were 3-0 down. Just hours later, boss Pier Eringa stepped down after six months in the role.
A few days before, football director Sven Mislintat was dismissed after just 129 days in the job after some bad signings last summer.
Ajax were also dumped out of the Dutch Cup by minnows USV Hercules – an amateur side with students in their squad – in one of the most incredible results in the country’s football history.