Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp charged by FA following post-match comments about referee after West Ham draw

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been charged by the Football Association for comments made about referee Kevin Friend after the Reds’ draw at West Ham last week.

Klopp intimated after the 1-1 result on Monday, February 4 that Friend’s performance had been affected by an assistant referee’s mistake for Sadio Mane’s goal.

Mane’s opener was allowed to stand despite Reds team-mate James Milner being clearly offside in the build-up.

An FA statement read: “Jurgen Klopp has today been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.

“It is alleged that comments he made in a post-match interview following Liverpool’s league game against West Ham United on 4 February 2019 breached Rule E3(1) as they questioned the integrity of the match referee and/or implied bias.”

After the game, Klopp told Sky Sports: “We had good moments, coming through the channels and scored the goal, which I’ve now been told is offside. This explains a little bit the second half, because I think the referee knew at half-time.

“He knew it for sure at half-time, and then you saw a lot of strange situations. They were not decisive but just rhythm breakers. That obviously didn’t help us.

“If I’ve made a mistake in the first half, I don’t want to open the gap even more as a human being.”

He has until 18:00 on 18 February 2019 to respond to the charge.