Wayne Rooney row ‘not really serious’ – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

LIVERPOOL — Jurgen Klopp has sympathised with Wayne Rooney after the Manchester United forward was photographed allegedly drinking late into the night while on international duty.

Rooney has apologised to England interim manager Gareth Southgate and Football Association technical director Dan Ashworth for his behaviour and said the images, taken over the weekend, were “inappropriate for someone in his position.”

The Football Association is conducting a “proper investigation,” but Liverpool manager Klopp said he believed the issue is “not really serious” and went on to praise the professionalism of footballers in the modern era.

Speaking at a news conference ahead of his side’s trip to Southampton at the weekend, Klopp said: “I really feel for the players.

“I know we are all on the sunny side of life and we earn a lot of money and do the job we love. But at the end, maybe it’s a surprise that there are human beings behind the kid.

“It’s all about timing, and when you are in the wrong moment at the wrong place then it’s not good as a professional player.

“I have no any idea where Wayne was, but I’m pretty sure it was not really serious. That’s the not-so-nice part of our lives. All we do sounds like a big catastrophe when it’s not perfect and it isn’t. It’s nothing.”

Klopp added: “Sometimes you are invited to something — maybe it’s a wedding or a birthday — and we can play the professional role and say: ‘No we don’t drink and if you smoke please [go] 20 yards between me and you because I don’t want to be a passive smoker.’ That’s not how life works.

“This generation is the most professional generation of football. All the legends you still love and all the guys you still admire drank like devils and smoked like crazy, and they were still good players.

“Nobody does that any more. These guys are professional players.”

He said modern footballers lived life “under glass,” adding: “Most of the time we function and sometimes not — and the whole world is talking about it.

“In one, two, three days nobody will remember what happened today, so why do we make a big deal of it?”

Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told a news conference on Thursday that the best players were able to learn from errors of judgement and move on.

“We have all been young,” he said. “Overall I believe it is part of youth to make mistakes and after that analyse it well.

“All the players who make big careers have that quality, a good assessment. All the big players make mistakes but they have a good assessment of the situation and they address it in a positive way.”

Despite Phil Jagielka being involved, Everton boss Ronald Koeman played down the furore.

The Dutchman said: “It wasn’t that big a problem for me with Phil. He was there and he had a drink, but it was after the match and the behaviour of Phil was not bad.

“Everybody needs to understand how dangerous is social media. You need to show always, to be an example for young people, as a football professional.

“But that is my opinion in general — with Phil, there is no problem. I spoke to him and the rest is between him and I.”

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino believes individuals must always be held accountable for their actions.

“You cannot control them. When you give the players a day off, it’s not in your hands what they’re doing,” he said. “As a manager, as staff, as a club. It’s their responsibility how they use their free time.”

Burnley boss Shaun Dyche, meanwhile, feels the incident highlights “why players are unapproachable, because people want to make a bad story out of a good story.”

He added: “If anyone wants to buy me a pint when I am out, they are more than welcome.”