LONDON • Jurgen Klopp believes managers should be punished for disrespecting match officials but cannot be expected to give guarantees about their behaviour because of the extreme pressures the Premier League brings.
"Behind a manager is still a human being and we are all weak in parts," he said on Thursday, ahead of their match against Hull today.
The Liverpool manager admitted he was fortunate to escape a sanction for his outburst towards Neil Swarbrick on Tuesday, when he yelled, "Nobody can beat us" in the face of the fourth official after Simon Mignolet's penalty save against Diego Costa .
According to Klopp, Swarbrick replied: "No problem, I like your passion."
Just 24 hours later, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho made reference to the incident while claiming he was threatened with a sending-off for similar behaviour during his side's 0-0 draw with Hull.
"I think it depends on the fourth official. We all know what we can do," Klopp said.
"When I saw the picture of me afterwards, it didn't look too nice but it was not as bad as it looked so that is why I said what happened.
"Maybe I was lucky with what the fourth official said because I've never heard something like this before.
"There are different ways to handle the situation. It is quite an emotional game and to switch off emotions is not that simple.
"We struggle - not only myself and Jose but Arsene Wenger and a lot of other people struggle."
Arsenal manager Wenger recently received a four-match touchline ban for pushing fourth official Anthony Taylor.
Liverpool must go one better than United and beat Hull in the league today.
Amid a difficult period, the Reds looked back to something approaching their best in a spirited 1-1 draw with leaders Chelsea.
But Liverpool, trailing 10 points behind Chelsea, have won just one of their nine fixtures this year and Klopp believes second-from-bottom Hull will be tough opposition despite their lowly position.
"I was really impressed by the way they played against Man United," Klopp said. "They did not look like a team one place from bottom of the division. They played United three times in the league and Cup, that's not easy to do, and they did really well against them."
Hull manager Marco Silva has urged his players to build on the point at United which lifted his side off the foot of the table.
The Tigers are set to be backed by the KCOM Stadium's biggest crowd of the season - over 24,000 - as they seek only their second league win in three months.
"The result at Old Trafford is one that will give us confidence to take into another difficult game," Silva said.
"We showed exactly the kind of character, attitude and organisation we need for the rest of the season, and showed also that we have some quality in the team.
"It was a valuable point, but we know that we need more than that to achieve our goal."
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