Ex-Premier League referee: Chiefs told to pay Jurgen Klopp a visit as Liverpool footage emerges
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and the rest of the Premier League managers should be visited by referees in pre-season to clarify reckless challenges and the handball law.
That is the view of ex-Fifa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider as Liverpool return to pre-season training ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
The club confirmed via a video on Twitter on Monday (4 July) that the coaching staff and non-international players had returned to their AXA training base.
The Reds kick off their 2022-23 campaign with the Community Shield against Man City at the end of the month (30 July).
“Look, there’s not a great change to the laws of the game but I do think pre-season is absolutely the window of opportunity for referees to humanise their position,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“By going into the clubs, I would suggest they talk about what is a reckless challenge and what endangers the safety of an opponent and handball. They are the two baseline subjects.
“The change around substitutions is not really their problem to some degree.
“I think those two aspects that create a lot of tension and a lot of discussion need to be discussed.
“This is what we used to do. The complication sometimes with pre-season meetings is the tours they go on.
“What we do is tell the Premier League three dates, three different venues in the south, the Midlands and north and say to the managers ‘You will attend one of those three meetings’.
“The agenda is the same, they could look at handballs and challenges and they can be on the screen.
“Then referees and a referee coach for integrity can then go in to the clubs. It’s just common sense.”
In other news, a Liverpool 21-year-old has agreed terms with a Premier League club.