Jurgen Klopp condemns UK government’s response to coronavirus which has left Liverpool manager ‘feeling like an alien’
Liverpool manager compared the UK’s coronavirus death toll to Germany’s and has been left puzzled by the government’s slow response when other countries are taking stronger actions
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Your support makes all the difference.Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that he ‘feels like an alien’ after criticising the government for their handling over the coronavirus crisis, comparing the difference in death numbers between England and Germany and asking why people are not taking more precautions given the seriousness of the pandemic.
The 53-year-old is preparing his side for their resumption of the Premier League on Sunday against Merseyside rivals Everton, and although Liverpool cannot mathematically clinch the title in the derby, the likelihood is they will wrap up top spot within the next seven days.
There was always the danger though that Liverpool’s first title in 30 years would be derailed by coronavirus, with talks during football’s hiatus including discussions about voiding the season which would have scrapped the Reds’ 25-point lead at the top of the table and the 2019/20 season deleted from the record books.
Yet while Klopp is understandably pleased that is not the case, he admitted that the thought of Liverpool missing out on the title never crossed his mind because of what was happening outside of the sport, with tens of thousands dying due to contracting Covid-19.
“I was not worried for one second that the government could cost us the title because I was worried about the numbers who were dying – and I’m still worried," Klopp said.
“I didn’t vote for this government. This government was the choice of other people. And the problem I had was that I got the news from England and the news from Germany. If aliens looked at us both from the outside, they would think we came from two different planets.”
The UK had recorded more than 42,000 deaths during the coronavirus pandemic as of 9am on Saturday, significantly more than Germany, who are yet to reach 9,000 total deaths. German chancellor Angela Merkel has been praised for the country’s swift and decisive response to the outbreak, with life returning to something close to normal but with clear coronavirus safety protocols installed significantly earlier than they were in the UK.
Im stark contrast, Boris Johnson’s government have been heavily criticised for the slow and muddled response to the virus, which has left the UK with one of the worst death tolls in the world, and Klopp was particularly puzzled about the time it took for health officials to introduce the necessity to wear a facemask on public transport on 15 June when other nations with far fewer deaths from Covid-19 were already making it mandatory everywhere outside of people’s residence.
“From a personal point of view, I don’t understand why we started wearing face masks in closed areas on 15 June when five or six weeks ago all the other countries were doing it,” Klopp added.
“You can argue about whether it makes sense to wear them, but all countries who started wearing face masks earlier have smaller casualty numbers than here in England. That’s the truth.
“When I see the numbers here in England and then in Germany, I think. Look, it’s not perfect in Germany, people have died and have been ill. But, in terms of living your life, it is completely different.
When I go to the petrol station in England, I am the only one wearing a face mask and I’m the only one with gloves
“If you want to enter a shop in Germany, but don’t wear a face mask, then you aren’t allowed in. With a face mask, you can go in all the shops you want. You can go to the hairdresser, wherever.
“They wear a face mask, you wear a face mask, and sometimes the people in the shop will have even more protection like a screen.
“When I go to the petrol station in England, I am the only one wearing a face mask and I’m the only one with gloves – I feel like an alien. I will not stop doing that until someone tells me it’s over.
"But inside the club, we are safe. We are tested twice a week and it is a safe environment.”
The Premier League has installed strict coronavirus protocols that has enabled the sport to resume, with players and staff tested at training grounds and any individuals who return positive results or show symptoms self-isolating immediately.
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