Jürgen Klopp believes managers should be punished for disrespecting match officials but cannot be expected to give guarantees about their behaviour because of the extreme pressure of the Premier League. “Behind a manager is still a human being and we are all weak in parts,” he said.

The Liverpool manager said 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 Chelsea.

José Mourinho has complained that, in contrast to Klopp, he was told to sit down or be sent to the stands for his behaviour during Manchester United’s draw with Hull City on Wednesday, while Arsène Wenger recently received a four‑match touchline ban for pushing Anthony Taylor.

At a time when referees at grassroots level are planning a nationwide strike in response to the abuse they receive and the Football Association is preparing to relaunch its Respect campaign, Klopp said he and other high-profile managers have a responsibility towards match officials and deserve censure when they step out of line. However, he insisted the pressure and emotion of their jobs should be taken into consideration when passing judgment.

“I agree 100%,” Klopp said when asked whether he had a duty to treat referees with respect. “The problem is only that to know about it doesn’t change the moment, that is why we accept the fines. To say we will never do anything like that last game – in this mood I can say 100% I won’t do it but it would be a lie to give a guarantee that it would never happen again.

“That’s why there are fines for it. If a reaction is too much then give us a fine. A fine hurts and that’s good. That is a special situation and the situation in a professional football league is different to that in an amateur league. The pressure is completely different. If someone from a fifth, sixth or seventh league thinks that because a manager in the Premier League does this, I can do that, that is wrong. It is a completely different situation. They have another job to do, it is more for fun – all that stuff.

“It is not that we have the character to want to have a go at the referee. Do you think Arsène Wenger is the kind of person who, when he sees the fourth official, thinks: ‘I’m going to punch him’ or whatever? That is not how he is and everybody knows it – it happens because of the circumstances and not the personality. Circumstances are pretty special and we all have a kind of pressure.

“We all know football is not the most important thing but try telling us that in this moment. In the moment it is unfortunately not true. There is no excuse and that is why there are fines for if you do too much or you are sent to the stands, or banned for three games. I don’t like it if it happens but I have to accept it. It is my fault but that is not to say I can stop it.”

Klopp claimed his outburst against Chelsea was the culmination of a series of poor decisions against Liverpool during a run of form that has left his team 10 points behind the Premier League leaders, out of the FA Cup and the EFL Cup in quick succession. He said: “I really try to be nice but in moments where you feel it is not fair – I see the penalty and I thought: ‘Yes, he can whistle it, there was contact’ – but four days earlier [against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup] we had a situation that was much clearer and nobody whistled or spoke about it. You cannot change it but you cannot accept everything like it never happened.

“Behind a manager is still a human being and we are all weak in parts. A few of these weaknesses lead to difficult situations and it is not because we are disrespectful. We know how difficult it is. Five times offside against you, by a small margin, and you think: ‘Didn’t we agree that if it was this close you would favour the attacking side?’ Things go more often for you. We conceded a lot of goals which were disallowed. Other teams scored a lot of goals which should have been disallowed. If you put them together they did the same job but the results are different.

“Sometimes you feel it in a moment and you look like you look and you say the things you say. Nobody can beat us? I never heard a more silly sentence after three defeats. And I looked at how I looked. I was really lucky in the way the fourth official reacted and I hope he didn’t get in trouble because of how he reacted. That was a reaction from a human being and as a result I could finish the game on the touchline.

“After the game I had forgotten about it but then I was told the press will ask about me shouting to the fourth official. And then I saw the pictures, I saw my face and I thought: ‘Oh, fucking hell’. I said what he said and that is how it was. I was lucky, of course.”