Sir Alex Ferguson one of the greatest managers of all time recently heaped praise on Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after the start his club have made to this season’s Premier League.
The Reds are flying and currently sit joint top on points at least in the Premier League table. After several years of not competing with the best teams, the Reds look like genuine title contenders and Sir Alex believes it's down to the German.
Speaking about the club’s identity he said, “It can happen that big clubs lose it. For two decades, Liverpool changed managers without building their own identity. You can now well and truly sense that you have to count them in this year. You can see Klopp's dedication on the sideline as I'm convinced his work in training is similar. He's a strong personality. That's absolutely vital at a big club”
Jurgen Klopp has now responded to the praise from the Scotsman but it’s not a response that is very straightforward. The German is in charge of United’s traditional rivals and decided to tread carefully when appreciating the legendary United manager.
“I'm not sure that it is allowed to say I like Alex Ferguson as Liverpool manager! I knew him before. He's a really nice person and he did what he had to do at Manchester -- and that automatically means it's not good for Liverpool.”
“When he has to say something positive about Liverpool then it's better than [if] he would say something negative. That's all good but it doesn't mean a lot. I'm pretty sure Alex Ferguson didn't go out in front of his house and say: 'I have something to say about Liverpool.' So some people will ask a few questions and he gave a few answers -- that's how it was. It's OK, but it doesn't disturb us, help us or anything else. I have nothing more to say.”
Manchester United and Liverpool have had contrasting starts to this season. While the former spent a lot of money on big money signings, Klopp was more conservative on the players he wanted to bring in.
The Reds have been in brilliant attacking form with Klopp’s front four causing havoc amongst Premier League defences, while United have struggled to find the perfect formula for their team. The likes of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have not had the best of starts to this season.
United did manage to shut down Liverpool at Anfield last week by playing a very solid game tactically but then lost 4-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge the next weekend. Jose Mourinho will look to revitalise his side and get them back on the winning trail when they welcome Burnley tomorrow.
