Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted he doesn't like James Maddison because of something the Tottenham midfielder did during a crucial game back in the 2018/19 season
Jurgen Klopp
Jurgen Klopp revealed he doesn't like James Maddison last year
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Image: Getty Images)
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Jurgen Klopp isn't one to hold grudges – at least, not openly.
So when the former Liverpool boss previously admitted to a longstanding dislike of James Maddison, it raised a few eyebrows. "It's just a personal thing," Klopp conceded in May 2024, shortly before stepping down as Reds head coach.
The reason? Maddison was at fault – at least, in Klopp's eyes – for Vincent Kompany's thunderous, game-clinching strike against Leicester City on the penultimate weekend of the 2018/19 season. At the time, Liverpool were breathing down Manchester City's neck, poised to end their 29-year wait for a Premier League title – if only Pep Guardiola's side had slipped up.
But thanks in part to Maddison, who failed to close Kompany down and block his 30-yard blast, they never did. "I remember exactly how I was lying on the sofa watching and thinking 'Maddison block him, close him down'," Klopp told Redmen TV.
"The moment when Vincent Kompany touched the ball there, I am really happy I didn't get a stroke in that moment as that's how it must feel," he added, before joking: "Since then, I don't like Maddison."
Guardiola's City were riding a 12-match winning streak in the league, but as Brendan Rodgers' Leicester held firm under relentless pressure, a 0-0 draw looked inevitable. But Kompany's unlikely wonder-strike on 70 minutes broke the deadlock, as well as thousands of hearts across Merseyside.
James Maddison
James Maddison joined Tottenham from Leicester in 2023
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Image:
Getty Images)
A week later, City clinched the title by a single point, with Klopp's men having to settle for second despite their 97-point haul – the highest ever total for a team who didn't win the title. They would make amends the following season, storming to the title with an 18-point gap over City, but even that triumph did little to soften Klopp's lingering frustration with Maddison.
"It's just a personal thing," Klopp admitted. "I have no problem with him, but when I see him it's... [grimaces]."
Now 28, Maddison is enjoying his second season at Tottenham after joining the club from Leicester in 2023. He's scored nine goals in 26 league games so far this season, including one against Liverpool in December.
Klopp felt that Maddison (third from left) should have closed Kompany (on the ball) down and blocked his title-clinching shot (
Image:
Sky Sports)
After leaving Anfield last year, Klopp signed with Red Bull as their new Head of Global Football. He later declared himself retired from football management, though it's understood his Red Bull contract has an exit clause that allows him to apply for the German national job.
In nearly nine years at Liverpool, Klopp led the team to seven major trophies, including the Champions League in 2019. He decided midway through the 2023/24 season he would step down at the end of the campaign after admitting he'd "run out of energy".
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