Jurgen Klopp has revealed he is "sick of" the lack of protection offered to Sadio Mane after accusations of diving during Liverpool's 2-0 win over Arsenal which kept alive the club's title hopes.
Klopp's comments came after Liverpool's hard-fought win at Arsenal, in which Diogo Jota broke the deadlock before Roberto Firmino came off the bench to clinch victory and excite the manager. Early in the first half, Mane went down anticipating a challenge from Arsenal defender Gabriel which never came - leaving home fans and players calling for referee Andre Marriner to book the Senegal star.
Mane, who has been booked for diving in the past while wearing Liverpool red, wasn't cautioned, but another incident that left him on the deck late in the first half left his manager furious on the touchline; Klopp could be seen angrily gesticulating in the direction of the referee and confronting the fourth official following a tackle from Cedric on Mane, in which Marriner reckoned the Portuguese defender had won the ball and not fouled the Liverpool No.10.
"The situation with Sadio Mane, I am sick of it!" said an angry Klopp after the victory. "I just am sick of it that you take a player out of it and they could have done what they wanted, everything.
"They fouled him and he didn't get fouled. That was what I was talking about. It was nothing to do with the game. I have no idea.
"Maybe someone can explain to me why Sadio doesn't get free-kicks. Don't tell me he is a diver or whatever, he is not. I know him better than anyone else and he is not!"
"Maybe if he has one, it is not a clear foul but it is always like this," Klopp continued. "Maybe there is a little contact and he goes down but then you see it in the situation. Or for the proper [fouls] he doesn't get them and that is what I don't like.
"Not enough protection? Whatever you want to make of it, just look at the situations and tell me that it is not always a foul."
Is Klopp right about Mane? Have your say in the comments section
Klopp also pointed to an incident in the second half when Arsenal's Ben White went down under what he described as "no contact" and was awarded a free-kick.
"If Sadio is doing that, the whole stadium is on their toes and the referee is [thinking] 'oh my god.' I am sick of it and that is why I was a bit angry," he said.
Mane has previously responded to being characterised as a diver, most notably in 2019 after an incident in Liverpool's Champions League meeting with Napoli. On that occasion, he went down under a challenge from Giovanni di Lorenzo but saw penalty claims waved away.
“Yes, I think it was a penalty," the former Southampton man said at the time, as reported by the Liverpool Echo. "I was not diving like usual eh?!" he joked. “Like I always said, I am not a kind of player who will always dive to steal something from the game. I could be lucky sometimes and get a penalty, but he didn’t give it for me, and it wasn’t a dive."
18 + Terms apply. See tomorrow's paper for your voucher.
