Klopp on United clash: 'It's the biggest game I can imagine'

The Premier League’s second and third-placed sides meet at Old Trafford this weekend, with just two points separating them in the table with nine games left to play.

Klopp held a press conference to preview the 200th instalment of the arch-rivalry between Liverpool and United at Melwood on Friday, and the manager spoke in detail about what he is expecting from the encounter.

Read on for a summary of his thoughts…

On the importance of the game…

I don’t think that the game needs any extra reasons to be a big game, it’s the biggest game I can imagine. First of all, I’m really looking forward to it but how it always is in these games, they are difficult as well. We need to be at 100 per cent, if not a few more, to get something there – but of course, that’s the plan. I think it’s a good moment to go there, but it’s still an unbelievably difficult moment because Man United have outstanding quality, we all know that, they have a home game, which we would say is an advantage for us if we played at Anfield so now they have that advantage and it’s our job to level that so nobody can see that. Very experienced team, very experienced manager, so it’s quite a job to do.

On what tactical approach he is expecting from United…

I would never use that word [‘parking the bus’]. I have absolutely no problem with defending. I know how the situation is at the moment, that people are saying they play a specific kind of football, we play a specific kind of football and everybody makes a big thing of it, but it’s all about winning and there are different ways to win football games. But we have another history in the last few years. The big rivalry is since ages ago, I would say, but in the last few years obviously Man United were more successful than us, that’s the truth. We respect that, it doesn’t disturb the moment to be honest, but we respect that of course. This United has a specific way of playing football, that’s all. 

We have to defend there with all we have, not gambling and thinking we are flying. Against Man United, nobody flies. They are too strong physically, too strong tactically, that’s the truth. So it’s not a battle of systems or philosophies, two very good football teams will face each other. When United will attack, I hope all my players are involved in defending and if somebody says that was ‘parking the bus’ in that moment, then we parked the bus, I have no problem with that. But over 90 or 95 minutes, we want to bring our football on the pitch as well and that’s, how we know, difficult to deal with as well. That’s the plan for this game. I don’t think there will be a lot of space in a lot of moments, I think it will be a big fight - how derbies are in general, how these games were in general, but hopefully at the end a positive result for us.

On how he modifies his game plan depending on the opposition…

It’s not about modifying. You have to bring the right things on the pitch constantly. Counter-pressing against such a strong counter-attacking team like United is so important, unbelievably important. Quick decision-making, fantastic attitude, there are a lot of things that you need to be at your best. It’s easy to sit at home and really think ‘Liverpool score like they want’ – that’s not the case but sometimes how the message is delivered – and United didn’t score that often, but there are reasons why they still have two points more than us. 

It’s not that we don’t want to show good we are, we want to have a result and that’s the only reason why we go there. The main difference is that we go there by bus. It’s Manchester so it’s quite close and that makes it even more interesting for the local fans, but on the other hand we have to do our really good things [and] use our important tools constantly and then when we have the ball we have to play football against a very strong side. They are physically really strong and if they defend deep it makes our life not easier, that’s how it is, but I don’t expect it to be all the time like this because they don’t do it all the time. They have counter-attacks, they have their own moments, they play football and if you can win the ball in one or two situations like that then you can use the space in the back [and that] would help, of course. But it’s not one attacking team against one defending team. They have massive quality - I know that and I respect that, but that doesn’t change our plan.

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On how the result will impact the final standings of the teams in the Premier League…

We cannot see it like this. Yes, they are two points ahead of us, so if we win we have one point more. Not a big decision for the rest of the season. If we draw, still two behind. If we lose, five behind and that’s not nice. We have to concentrate on the game. The only positive influence to have on your situation is to win the next football game - and in this case it’s against Manchester United. We really want to get one or, in the best case, three points, so I don’t have to talk about the table and say, ‘look at this, boys, if you don’t know I can tell you it would be really important [to win].’ That’s the easy part of the game before games like this – the boys know and now we have to show them the football side of the game, but the emotional side of the game is 100 per cent clear.

On Liverpool’s goalless draw with United at Anfield in October…

I can’t really remember that game, to be honest – there have been too many games in between. I know De Gea made a few fantastic saves, we didn’t play badly. It was our home game, so we were more offensive than United that day, 100 per cent, but not too offensive because they didn’t have too many chances, so that’s another very important part of the game. The last game against us is not really in my mind; they played a few more games since then and we did the same and [now it is] two different teams, not only because of one or two new players in. 

It is really rare that I use the last game for the preparation for the second game against a team because there is too much time in between. It is football and they will defend wherever they want to defend, that’s how it is. We have to try and create something and to protect our offensive situations. If they attack, we need all of our legs to defend these situations because the individual quality is outstanding. They had a very good result with a not-that-good game, how they know, against Crystal Palace, being 2-0 down but then having that comeback has for sure given them a big boost. Now we face them and it’s really interesting – it will be really interesting.

On whether Liverpool’s Champions League performances can give them confidence going to Old Trafford…

I don’t think we need an extra bit, to be honest, but going to the next round is a fantastic achievement. I think everyone saw Tottenham playing against Juventus and what it showed is that while in football it looks like you can buy nearly everything but you cannot buy experience. Juve made their experience over the last decade. We made our experience in the Champions League, thank God, in a positive way in that we went to the next round. That’s really big for us, absolutely big. The record of ours is quite OK against the ‘big six’ or whatever, but that didn’t help us when we lost at Manchester City. 

Since then, we’ve learned a lot - even when this game was very different to all other games we played because we played for 60/70 minutes with 10 men, so it was not easy and that’s probably the worst place to be one man down. It was unlucky for us, but now we are in a different situation. I said in a press conference a few weeks ago, we are a different team to the start of the season – that’s for sure. We learned a lot, we learned a lot together, now we have to use that. This game is an exception because of the history, but in the season it’s a normal game – a very difficult game because who can go to Manchester United and think three points are already in the pocket? That doesn’t work. We know we have a chance and that’s actually the best news you can get, but you will never get better news, so let’s try to use this chance. That’s all.