Dietmar Hamann hammers Jurgen Klopp for “petty” press conference

"I found it very strange."

Dietmar Hamann has thrown fuel on the fiery words of war between himself and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. The Reds' boss has been fairly open about his issues with Hamann before, who he believes is overly critical of the Anfield faithful. After a 3-2 loss to Arsenal in the Premier League, a reporter quoted Hamann's criticism to Klopp who was very sharp in his response.

“Oh great, he is a fantastic source. Well respected everywhere. Being a former Liverpool player doesn’t give you the right to say what you want, especially when you have no idea,” Klopp told reporters.

The former Germany and Liverpool midfielder has been biding his time, and after the former Dortmund boss refused to speak to a journalist at a press conference, he has chosen now to strike. The Athletic's James Pearce was shot down when he asked Klopp a question following his side's latest defeat.

"It's very difficult to talk to you if I'm 100 percent honest," said Klopp.

 "I would prefer not to do that. You know why, for all the things you wrote. So If somebody else wanted to ask that question then I'll answer it."

Speaking on talkSPORT, Hamann said: "I found it very strange and petty and what he has to realise is that James Pearce and his family get bombarded with abusive messages since that incident because Klopp didn't answer a question.

"It was a perfectly good question to ask him and I think the least James deserves is an apology. Liverpool is a club that is based on respect and I think someone has to tell [Klopp] 'This is Liverpool Football Club and you can't do this.

"We have campaigns against bullying and you can't have the Liverpool manager behave the way he did.

"I feel nobody at the club has the bottle to tell him, which I think they should. The way things are going at the moment, these things don't help him and they certainly don't help the club, which is above everything else.

"You can't have a situation where the manager disrespects a very well respected journalist like he did to James Pearce."

Related links:

• Didi Hamann scorches Cristiano Ronaldo in out-of-nowhere World Cup rant
• 'You know why' Jurgen Klopp refuses to speak to Athletic journalist at press conference
• 'Not cool' Jurgen Klopp far from happy with question about late Liverpool fouls