The Liverpool boss was furious with the officials for blocking his sub (Picture: Getty)
The Liverpool boss was furious with the officials for blocking his sub (Picture: Getty)

A furious Jurgen Klopp says he was prevented from changing Liverpool’s system against Chelsea by the referee just seconds before the visitors scored their equaliser.

The German coach started the match with a back four which had worked well, keeping the Blues at bay and helping to forge a 1-0 lead through Mohamed Salah.

But in the 83rd minute Antonio Conte decided to take off wing-back Davide Zappacosta and replace him with attacker Willian, prompting a change in shape from Chelsea.

Klopp had words with referee Michael Oliver at full-time of Saturday’s match (Picture: Getty)
Klopp had words with referee Michael Oliver at full-time of Saturday’s match (Picture: Getty)

Klopp wanted to react accordingly and switch to a back five, but was prevented from making the sub despite the ball going out of play; Willian equalised just 144 seconds later.

He told BT Sport afterwards: ‘I was angry because we wanted to make a change and change the system and the ref wouldn’t let us. He said it would take too long. I don’t understand it, how can a change take too long?

‘We wanted to change to five in the back, in that moment it could have helped a lot.

‘That’s where Willian popped up with the goal, and that’s why I was angry.’

Klopp felt Willian’s goal could have been stopped if he’d changed to a back five (Picture: Getty)
Klopp felt Willian’s goal could have been stopped if he’d changed to a back five (Picture: Getty)

He later added: ‘We thought it made sense to change the system but the ref thought wait a little bit.’

The result is bad news for Liverpool’s hopes of winning the title, with Manchester City able to pull 14 points clear if they win their match against Huddersfield on Sunday.