Everton manager Frank Lampard admits he regrets the words he used in his x-rated touchline spat with Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp but doesn’t regret his passion.
With Premier League fixtures being played behind closed doors because of coronavirus restrictions, Lampard’s angry exchange during Chelsea’s 5-3 defeat at Anfield on July 22 went viral as, without the usual noise of the crowd, viewers could hear everything the two rival bosses were saying to each other.
During the heated discussion across the two technical areas ahead of what was Liverpool’s only League Championship presentation since 1990, Lampard, who won three Premier League titles with Chelsea as a player, said to Klopp: “Only league title you’ve ever won and you’re f****** giving it the big ‘un… f*** off!”
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Pointed out that it was their most-viewed video, the Everton manager told Optus Sport : “I’ve got to be careful to say that I’d never do it again because if I do you can replay this. I regret my wording, I don’t regret my passion and I probably regret there were no fans in the stadium to drown out the noise because these things do happen and we see them.
“When I see another manager, I appreciate the passion and I understand the pressures and the reality of that game was that we were fighting to be in the Champions League positions in the last three games or whatever it was. Liverpool were in party mode because they were going to be given the Premier League trophy after the game so it was a pressure game for us and maybe that’s just how I am and maybe you’ve just got to control yourself better at different times.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Jurgen Klopp so after the event you think that it was too much and when up against a manager you respect and maybe you should word it differently but I kind of stand by my passion at the moment it happened. I was defending my team, I felt that at the moment.
“I had a bit of regret the next day as I had to ring my elder daughters who were probably among the viewers, they were 15 and 16 at the time. So then you realise you’re representing the football club and you have to act in a certain way and I’d overstepped the line that day so I regret that side of it.”
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