De Zerbi defends Frank altercation amid Jurgen Klopp red card
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Italian was seen having a disagreement with the Brentford boss in Friday night’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium, in which two Ivan Toney goals was enough to give the West London side all three points.
The fallout began after Frank stopped Albion defender Joel Veltman from taking a quick throw-in by the dugouts, angering De Zerbi and leading to the 43-year-old squaring up to his managerial counterpart, leading to a number of coaches and players getting involved.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWhen asked about the incident, De Zerbi said: “For me football is passion 100%, but I don't want to make the mistake first. I don’t like when another coach speaks with my player, but it was the same in Italy and in Ukraine.”
Both managers received yellow cards in what became one of several ugly touchline altercations from this weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was red carded at Anfield in yesterday 1-0 over Manchester City for aggressively shouting at an assistant referee.
The Football Association is also looking at Manchester United players surrounding referee Craig Pawson at Old Trafford in their draw against Newcastle.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdChris Kavanagh was also crowded by players from both sides at Elland Road for a number of VAR incidents as Arsenal beat Leeds 1-0.
Following these incidents, a leading referees' charity has called for an inquiry into the touchline behaviour of managers.
HAVE YOU READ THIS?
Martin Cassidy, CEO of Ref Support UK, said: “People mimic what they see on TV. For years, we have said the dissension towards referees comes from the top down as well as the bottom up.
"When you see world recognised figures like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola behaving like that, it is then replicated by people in youth football and perpetuates the idea that it is OK to do it.”