United were tall order admits Klopp
JURGEN KLOPP believes Manchester United’s long-ball approach has proved the perfect preparation for West Brom’s visit to Liverpool tomorrow.
The Liverpool manager conceded the examination his side passed during Monday’s turgid stalemate with their rivals has proved beneficial ahead of the prospect of another aerial bombardment from Tony Pulis’s side.
United included Marouane Fellaini, at the expense of Juan Mata, and looked to feast on Liverpool’s perceived shortcomings by finding Zlatan Ibrahimovic at every opportunity.
The blueprint adopted by Jose Mourinho has provoked intense debate in the days since but, asked whether facing United’s style would help with the test that now awaits them on Saturday, 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.
“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 United game and will be very important in the West Brom game. You can always use a few things from the last game but, on the other hand, it will be different again. There is a lot of work to do.”
Klopp refused to rise to the bait thrown down by Mourinho, who claimed Liverpool are “not the last wonder of the world” after failing to translate territorial superiority into goals.
“Don’t bother me with things like that. I am not one per cent interested,” said Klopp. “I learnt early on in my career you cannot win the game after the game.”