Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has hit back at Bournemouth's Steve Cook, describingthe defender's comments on targetingLoris Karius as 'one of the worst things I everheard in my life'.
Karius, 23, has come under scrutiny this week after he gifted Bournemouth a winner in the 4-3 defeat at theVitality Stadium last Sunday.
And although Klopp applauded Eddie Howe and Bournemouth after the defeat, he felt differently toward Steve Cook, who admitted to targeting Karius by bombarding him with shots.
He told talkSport, as quoted in theGuardian:I've got to be honest, we did. We felt he was under a lot of pressure “ obviously, playing for Liverpool you've got to be a very strong character. We did target him, we tried to pressure him and get as many shots at him as possible. Obviously, we didn't get that many shots off in the game but we did target him as a weakness in the Liverpool side.�
Klopp reacted furiously to Cook's comments, replying:Actually, that's one of the worst things I ever heard in my life,�
Klopp was left fuming by comments from Steve Cook in the aftermath of last weekend's defeat at Vitality Stadium #lfc (James Pearce - Echo)
He added: "That the guy who won the game “ I don't know who it was “ thinks he needs to say something like this after the game. I am really looking forward to playing Bournemouth again because of this.
Win the game, have respect for the player of the other team and then [gestures to close his mouth]. I thought: ˜Really, what did I say?' I don't care what he thought, I don't care what anyone said before the game. If they thought before the game that Loris Karius is a weakness then I don't know which game they were looking at.The game before against Sunderland he saved our life in three or four situations. Maybe they watched games from Mainz.�