Jurgen Klopp swearing at Liverpool autograph hunter was a rejected Inbetweeners scene
One of the defining sitcoms of its era, The Inbetweeners was painfully on-point for suburban, sexually-frustrated teenage boys across Britain with its depiction of adolescent anxiety.
Millions of twenty-something males can quote entire scenes from the show that ran between 2008 and 2010. Many of our friend groups contain a slightly-pathetic everyman like Simon or a professional b*llshitter like Jay.
Arguably the most scene-stealing character of all, though, was Mr Gilbert; the sadistic, narky headteacher with a vendetta against Will McKenzie that was both completely justified and completely chilling.
But why spend the opening 100-ish words of a football article lauding The Inbetweeners? Because we’ve just found a rejected scene from the series and it involves Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
While acknowledging his success and joviality, many have discovered that Klopp has a dark side. All smiles and Erdinger one minute, the German is capable of becoming spikier than a hedgehog wearing a coat of stinging nettles at times of adversity.
His list of post-match excuses after Liverpool setbacks is legendary, shattering the most bullet-proof interviewers with a glowering glare or terse word.
And Klopp showcased his latest metamorphosis into Mr Gilbert after Liverpool’s pre-season friendly with Bayern Munich in Singapore.
As fans waited outside for a glimpse of their demi-god, the 56-year-old walked over and huffily remarked: “Very quick, yeah? I don’t have time.”
Fair enough; there are times when not speaking to a single soul sounds incredibly inviting. We can only imagine what Klopp, who has a thousand demands on his time and a finite amount of patience, goes through on a daily basis.
But, as one fan passed him a pen and fumbled his about-to-be-autographed shirt, the Reds boss snapped: “And you have to hold the f***ing shirt properly.” Yikes.
“Sorry Klopp,” came the reply that, with its bootlicking undertone and craven refusal to stand his ground, perfectly captured the same energy of that bus scene from The Inbetweeners.
Klopp: "You have to hold the f*****g shirt."
Fan: "Sorry Klopp"— Football Fights (@footbalIfights) August 3, 2023
“The atmosphere was great, I said it outside,” Klopp said about his experiences in Singapore. “The people created something really special, we felt from the first second super-welcome. That’s intense as well! People were waiting everywhere for us, I understand that.
“But I will not miss opening a door and everyone is cheering, to be honest! I’ll be really happy if I can open a door at home and nobody is cheering!”
In mitigation, Liverpool’s defending during their 4-3 defeat would’ve turned the Dalai Lama into Roy Keane.
Bayern’s first goal came when a ball was played in between Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip for Serge Gnabry to dot the I’s and cross the T’s, with the Reds hardly inspiring confidence in punters who’ve backed them to challenge Manchester City this season.
“I am a bit angry because of the goals we conceded especially in the first half when a ball was played between the full-back and the centre-back,” Klopp said. “We were a bit tired, I know that, but in football when it is most intense you have to make the right decision. We didn’t.
“There were a lot of good things, but we had tired legs today, as well. We know what we have to work on and we will do.”
Liverpool have now conceded 10 and scored 15 goals in four friendly matches and arrived back in England on Thursday with the balance of the team causing concern.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s new hybrid role between right-back and midfield is still defined by its teething problems and it’s looking likely that Klopp will have to cross his fingers and pray when Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge in nine days time.
We can only hope Klopp’s mood improves between now and then – although the thought of him fully leaning into his Mr Gilbert tendencies is proving incredibly hard to shake.
By Michael Lee
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