Liverpool boss Klopp likens players refusing COVID-19 vaccine to drink driving

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp likened players and people refusing the coronavirus vaccine to drink-drivers amid a reluctance to receive the COVID-19 jab.

Klopp discussed the COVID-19 vaccination ahead of Liverpool’s blockbuster showdown with Premier League champions Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

While Klopp said “99 per cent” of his squad are fully vaccinated, many Premier League clubs are reportedly yet to reach half of their players receiving both jabs.

“I didn’t have to convince the players, it was more a natural decision from the team,” Klopp told reporters. “I cannot remember really talking to a player in a one-on-one situation and explaining to him.”

“It sounds like we are not allowed to give people advice,” Klopp added. “Where did I get the knowledge from that I think it makes sense to get the vaccine? I called doctors that I’ve known for years and I asked them: ‘What should I do?’

“That’s how I usually work: when you don’t know, you call a specialist and the specialist tells you. That’s why I took the vaccination because I am in an age group [54] where it is not that easy anymore, the virus could be tricky, and I was really happy when I could get it. The specialists out there say the vaccination is the solution at the moment.

“If I say I am vaccinated, other people say: ‘How can you tell me I should be vaccinated?’ It is a little bit like drink-driving. We all probably were in a situation where we had a beer or two and thought we still could drive but, [because of] the law, we are not allowed to drive so we don’t drive. But this law is not there for protecting me when I drink two beers and want to drive, it’s for protecting all the other people because I’m drunk and we accept that as a law.

“I don’t take the vaccination only to protect me, I take the vaccination to protect all the people around me. I don’t understand why that is a limitation of freedom because, if it is, then not being allowed to drink and drive is a limitation of freedom as well.

“I got the vaccination because I was concerned about myself but even more so about everybody around me. If I get [Covid] and I suffer from it: my fault. If I get it and spread it to someone else: my fault and not their fault.”

You have to be your best version. Then, you have a chance. #LIVMCI pic.twitter.com/HRDk7Seq6l

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 2, 2021

Liverpool – the only side still unbeaten in the Premier League this season – can return to the top of the table with victory at home to Pep Guardiola’s City on Merseyside.

The Reds have not lost consecutive league games against City since a run of four between 1935 and 1937, going down 4-1 the last time the sides met in February.

Liverpool are unbeaten in 16 league games (W12 D4) – the longest current run without defeat in the top-four tiers of English football. However, Klopp’s men conceded more goals in their 3-3 draw at Brentford last time out than they had in their previous eight league games combined (two).

Guardiola has lost more games against Klopp in all competitions than he has against any opposing manager in his career (eight). Meanwhile, of sides he has faced at least 10 times in all competitions, the Spaniard’s lowest win rate is against Liverpool (30.8 per cent – W4 D4 L5).

“All these kind of feelings have to be there – excitement, nervousness, pressure, emotions,” Guardiola said. “If you don’t have those feelings in important games, like the previous ones or for the biggest ones, this business is not for you.

“Maybe you don’t sleep better the day before, or sleep good when it’s over or not if the performance is not good, but this is how you live this life.

“I still have it before the games. If you don’t feel that you are not for the business. You have to feel it.”