Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos revealed that he voted for Jurgen Klopp in Coach of the Year award but it didn’t come without criticism of the Liverpool manager saying, “some of us have been operating at a very high level for many years – I’m not sure he can say the same.”
Speaking ahead of the UEFA Super Cup clash against Atletico Madrid, Ramos revealed that he voted for Klopp in the coach of the year category, “When we voted on the best managers I voted for him, so he can relax.”
Ramos also replied to Klopp’s comments about him after the Champions League final back in May where Klopp described his performance as “brutal”. In the final Ramos fouled Liverpool winger Mohammed Salah who fell awkwardly and injured his shoulder requiring surgery.
Ramos defended his tackle saying, “I have no intention of hurting a player deliberately. He will be wanting to explain not winning the final, but it’s not the first that he has lost.” Klopp has only won one of his last six finals which came in the 2012 German Cup.
Salah suffered a shoulder injury in the first half of the game, which the Merseysiders lost 3-1, after tangling with Ramos and was forced off before the interval.
Klopp has been vocal with his criticism of the Real skipper in the months after the final, recently branding his performance ‘ruthless and brutal.’
Ramos is sick to death of hearing the former Borussia Dortmund chief bring up the incident and believes he continues to do so in order to deflect from his side’s shortcomings in the match.
“I’m not going to highlight this again,” the Spain international said when pressed on Klopp’s latest comments.
“I’ve given my view before of what happened, it was not intentional. [Salah] pulled my arm first.
“It’s not the first final [Klopp] has lost, he should stick to his own business.
“Some of us have been operating at a very high level for many years, I’m not sure he can say the same.”
Ramos defended his coming together with Salah and his collision with Reds stopper Loris Karius before the World Cup, saying: “Bloody hell, they’ve given this a lot of attention, the Salah thing.
“I didn’t want to speak because everything is magnified. I see the play well, he [Salah] grabs my arm first and I fell to the other side, the injury happened to the other arm and they said that I gave him a judo hold.
“After the goalkeeper said that I dazed him with a clash.
“I am only missing (Roberto) Firmino saying that he got a cold because a drop of my sweat landed on him.”
Liverpool kicked off their Premier League campaign on Sunday afternoon, demolishing West Ham 4-0 to top the table after the first round of fixtures.