Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool's Premier League fixture against Manchester United last week was the kind of preparation his side needed to take on this week's opponents, West Bromwich Albion.
Tony Pulis' side held Liverpool to two draws last season by employing long-ball tactics and putting immense pressure on the Liverpool defence and Klopp feels United played the same way last week and there couldn't be a better preparation game.
When specifically asked about the preparation, Klopp said, “Yes partly. We all know we have had to watch out for a few problems that we had last season, although we are not suffering from the same amount.
“We are a football-playing side and Manchester United were more physical and stronger than we were with a lot of tall players. We did it well and I cannot remember there was a big advantage in this game out of these situations.
“We need to be ready again for situations like this (on Saturday). You can always use a few things from the last game but on the other hand it will be different again. Defending these balls was important, very important in the United game and will be important in the next game. Playing football would have been important in the Man United game too and will be very important in the West Brom game. There is a lot of work to do.”
Mourinho hit out at Liverpool after the game accusing the German of playing two defensive midfielders to stop United – a complaint that often laid upon his tactics – but Klopp said he wasn't getting carried away by these after-match comments and instead pointed that it was a ‘good experience’ for his Liverpool side.
“I am not interested in it,” Klopp said when asked about Mourinho's post-match comments. “I thought the game was over, so why should I talk about it still? I don’t care what anybody says after the game.
“I know the game already and I know what I have to learn from it. You want to write what you saw and if it is the same and what other people say, I don’t know if that is good or bad, but use it or leave it.
“Don’t bother me with things like that. I am not a per-cent interested. You cannot win the game after the game, which I have learnt early on in my career. We have a point and it felt positive because it was one more point than before the game. It was a good experience for us, we were not perfect, that is all.”
Liverpool take on West Brom on Saturday night at 10pm IST while Manchester United take on Jose Mourinho's former side, Chelsea, at 8.30pm IST on Sunday night.
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