Sam Allardyche takes swipe at Jurgen Klopp and Erik Ten Hag amid time-wasting accusations

Leeds United boss Sam Allardyche took a swipe at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of his side’s game with Newcastle this weekend.

Allardyche took over the reigns of the Yorkshire club following the sacking of Javi Gracia and was tasked with avoiding relegation.

His first game saw him face the might of Manchester City and despite the league-leaders posting a two-goal lead, his side pulled a goal back as they fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Not one for holding his tongue, the Premier League veteran couldn’t help himself during his press conference ahead of the weekend’s action.

He was asked about Newcastle’s time wasting and the former Everton boss said: “Who doesn’t do it? Who complained? [reporter says Jurgen Klopp] well he time wastes, [reporter says Erik ten Hag] he time wastes as well.

“They all time waste in the last five minutes if they are winning 2-1. Don’t be daft. Rubbish that is.

“We have been talking about ball in play rather than time wasting and whether ball in play can be improved, but the game is ferocious and quick enough as it is.

“Players’ fatigue and injuries and resources are strained more than ever before. So if you speed the game up even more you are going to get more and more crippling injuries than you have ever got because it has never been quicker than it is now.

“With it being more quick then recovery time is of the essence. Because of so many games there is no recovery time and because there is no recovery time you get more and more injuries and ultimately get more chronic injuries, which can limit a players’ career, so it is shorter than it should be.”

In fact, it was confirmed earlier this week that Liverpool waste the least time from goal-kicks. On average, Liverpool take 21.5 seconds to restart play and it falsifies ‘Big Sam’s’ claims.

Granted, every team in the world will find small ways to waste time to secure a result or kill the momentum of an opposing team - if you’re winning it’s game managment, if you’re losing, it’s time wasting.

But perhaps it might be worth checking the statistics next time Mr. Allardyche...