Jurgen Klopp says that Gary Neville was right to apologise for praising Manchester United's Hannibal Mejbri kicking of Liverpool players on Tuesday, but admits aggression is "absolutely fine" if channelled in the right way.
The Tunisian youngster came on for the final ten minutes of the 4-0 loss at Anfield and began aggressively fouling Liverpool players, picking up a booking and the admiration of onlooking United fan Neville.
Neville has since admitted he “erred on the slightly unprofessional side of commentary” and apologised for his remarks, and Klopp admitted that while he understood where his sentiment was coming from, he is happy that the former United defender realised the error of his ways.
“He had to apologise for that, rightly so,” Klopp said. “I understand where he is coming from. Obviously you want to see some aggression, but there is a difference between aggression and kicking players.
"Aggression in football means you are ready to hurt yourself, not the other one. I don’t blame the kid, he came on and the game was a bit quick, and he was a bit late here and there. It’s all good.
“Aggression in football is absolutely fine but you cannot sort your own problems by hurting the opposition players, that is what I have never understood.
"Of course things can happen in football, it is a high-speed game, but not these kind of things where you don’t care about another colleague who wants to play again in a few days time as well.”
Source : 90min