JURGEN KLOPP may not be waving goodbye to Liverpool with a historic quadruple.
But he can at least leave Anfield safe in the knowledge that he has restored another gesture — or its occasional lack thereof — to its rightful place at the top of the football news cycle.
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The introduction of VAR to the English Premier League at the start of the 2019-20 season ensured that it now routinely dominates post-match chat but now, mercifully, we have a return to the things that really matter, the handshake and its importance in football.
On Saturday, after Michail Antonio levelled for West Ham, Klopp turned to his bench in a bid to salvage their rapidly fading title hopes.
Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez were summoned to try to conjure a third goal.
The Egyptian was, apparently, none too pleased about being given just 11 minutes to change the course of the game.
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Klopp could, if he was so minded, point out that, until Antonio’s equaliser moments before, Liverpool were on course to claim three points having dominated possession and created more chances.
Instead, the German took exception to his player’s apparent unwillingness to shake his hand before the pair eventually pressed the flesh in the form of a fist bump.
We all know that is the handshake’s poor cousin, even before its Covid-19 connotations.
Although the TV cameras present may not have fully picked up the episode, there was enough footage from fans in the stand to provide the basis for subsequent analysis.
SunSport reported how interaction with a player before they are brought on is a big thing for the former Borussia Dortmund boss and, so, Salah’s reluctance to shake hands was never going to go down well.
Nor too would the fact that after the final whistle, Salah avoided Klopp but did shake hands with Hammers boss David Moyes.
But this is all wholesome content to remind us of the sacred place the handshake occupies in the beautiful game and its inherent concept of respect.
There are, of course, other greetings around the world, whether it be a bow in the Far East or a kiss on the cheeks — is it two or three? — in southern Europe. And no, not those cheeks.
But for football, the handshake reigns supreme and is as important a part of pre-match rituals as the coin toss, the anthems at an international game or the singing of Abide With Me at the FA Cup final.
As an act, either as a greeting or sealing an agreement, it is reckoned to be at least 3,000 years old.
That estimate is based on a relief from the ninth century BC, which depicts King Marduk-Zakir-Shumi I of Babylonia shaking hands to forge an alliance with the Assyrian King Shalmaneser III.
The open-handed nature of the gesture is, supposedly, to show that you are not armed, with the extending of the arms morphing into the shaking of them by knights in medieval Europe to reveal any concealed weapons.
LENDING A HAND
Nobody has charted the history of the handshake in football, or sport in general, but the symbolism is self-evident — players and managers are adversaries for 90 minutes but either side of that, mutual respect should be shown.
There are countless ways to do it. Is it firm? Is it limp? Blink-and-you-will-miss-it or lasting?
Do you look into your opponent’s eyes or avert your gaze? Or go mad and wrap a second hand around theirs to see how they react?
If you are Shamrock Rovers, it forms an important part of your in-house rituals.
Pre-match interviews at their Roadstone training ground are pockmarked by what sounds like bubble-wrap popping as players incorporate a loud slap of the flesh as they greet their team-mates at the start of the day.
Like most things, the importance of the handshake was only really appreciated when it came under threat and, as is often the case in English football, this was to be blamed on outsiders.
Famously, nobody had ever dived in the Premier League until Jurgen Klinsmann came along like a malevolent missionary and taught the locals there was a way of deceiving match officials which could be to their advantage.
Cristiano Ronaldo took up his pioneering work and opened the natives’ eyes to the extent to which this new trick could be used. And, just as they had come to terms with the undermining of one of those traditional values, another came under attack.
HYSTERIA
They should probably be grateful that Arsene Wenger limited himself to simply not accepting an extended hand from the opposition dugout.
There were times the Arsenal boss looked so outraged by an injustice — perceived or otherwise — that he looked on the verge of saying it was his ball, picking it up and saying he had to go home.
Handshake hysteria reached its peak in 2013, when Rafa Benitez called foul for what he claimed was a snub by Alex Ferguson.
The then-Chelsea boss said: “I was waiting at the tunnel to shake hands and he just walked past me.
“I was waiting to shake hands because I have education, I know there are a lot of people watching.”
These were not, to use the former Liverpool manager’s terminology, ‘facts’, according to Ferguson, who replied: “It’s nonsense. Why would I refuse to shake his hand? I was signing autographs. I never saw him. If he wanted to shake hands he could’ve stood straight in front of me.”
One of Ferguson’s former charges, Mark Hughes, by his own admission, found himself drawn into more handshake controversies than most.
Jose Mourinho refused to engage after a 2017 draw between Stoke and Manchester United, following previous incidents with Tony Pulis (twice), Roberto Mancini, Martin Jol and Wenger.
With introspection which was probably fleeting, Hughes said: “Maybe it’s me, I’m not sure, I seem to get involved on handshake issues.
“I offered my hand but Jose didn’t want to take it, maybe he was a bit upset about the result, sometimes these top managers don’t have these results too often.”
There is a time and a place for a handshake. That’s something Jose didn’t always afford due respect. He had a habit of trying to get it out of the way before the final whistle.
When he tried it with Paul Lambert in 2014, as Chelsea led Aston Villa 3-0, the Scot pointed angrily at his watch.
Mourinho then slapped Lambert’s assistant Roy Keane on the shoulder.
Read more on the Irish Sun
Amazingly, the Cork man did not react but later said: “It’s a disgrace. The game’s still going on. You wouldn’t do it on a Sunday morning, you’d get knocked out.”
Sadly, that theory was not tested.
