'Sportsman' Jurgen Klopp Claims He Would Rather Quit Than See Liverpool Win Using Unfair Tactics

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that he would rather quit than instruct his team to be cynical in order to win games, either by wasting time or deliberately drawing fouls to break up the rhythm of the game to hamper the other team.

It comes after the Reds were denied a win on Saturday evening by a late Chelsea goal in a 1-1 draw at Anfield. Had Liverpool been able to hold it, the three points would have taken them into the top four and level with the reigning champions.

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But rather than resort to what he hinted would be unfair tactics to get over the line, Klopp has stated that he always wants his player to behave like 'proper sportsmen' and win in the right way.

"We try to close games down, but we don't do it in a cynical way," the 50-year-old German coach is quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"We don't do it like 'oh sit down again'....you have seven minutes overtime then," he added.

"The day when somebody thinks like this (in my team), with not being a proper sportsman and being fair, then I stop. If it's not okay any more that we try our best, then it is something wrong.

"Yes, you have to be smart, yes you have to be clever in different situations. (But I) didn't see a lot where we had to stay down. If you don't hear a whistle you have to stay up."

On the subject of the modern day cynical tactics employed by players and teams to win at all costs, Klopp explained that he suffered a broken nose on five different occasions during his playing career as a result of stray elbows, but he never once deliberately stayed down feigning worse injury to get the accidental perpetrator in more trouble.

"When I played I got five broken noses and there was not one time on purpose. I just took it. Now they [players] are all on the ground. That’s not my kind of game," he said.