Klopp to catch City while they’re down
JURGEN KLOPP is planning to hit Pep Guardiola while he is down, promising a second Monaco-style blitz inside a week from his Liverpool side at the Etihad tomorrow.
The Reds boss spent much of his briefing yesterday singing the praises of the under-fire City boss, claiming those lining up to criticise the Spaniard and his methods will be proved wrong in time.
But he admitted he will not let professional respect get in the way of a well-aimed punch when he sees an opponent ‘taking a knee’ on the canvas, and has vowed to arrive all guns blazing.
Asked whether City’s senses will still be scrambled after the defeat on Wednesday, Klopp offered a dramatic shrug.
“Which mood will they be in? I have no idea,” he said. “I am more interested in which mood we have and what we can do when we are there.
“But would I have been disappointed about going out of the Champions League like this? Yes. And you could see that Pep was disappointed as well.
“What I also know is that if you are passive against City you have no chance – you have to be active, you have to be brave. Monaco couldn’t do it for two halves but they did it the first half this week and looked good.”
Logic would suggest that City’s players will suffer a monumental hangover and the sight of Liverpool arriving will not clear their heads.
Not only did Klopp’s men beat City 1-0 at Anfield on New Year’s Eve, but they have an unbeaten record home and away against their fellow top-six clubs with five wins and four draws.
In addition, Liverpool won the corresponding fixture 4-1 last season – a month after Gideon Klopp took over but before Guardiola held the reins – with a blistering performance in which the home side were blown away.
Klopp, who pitted his wits against the Spaniard when at Dortmund in the Bundesliga, posting three wins from eight against Bayern Munich, remains a committed admirer of Guardiola’s style.
He is a fan of the City team his rival is starting to create for all that he feels it will take time for ideas to take root.
“I’m not in doubt about his quality, for all that maybe a few other people are,” said Klopp. “I respect him a lot and I can say it is always quite difficult to play his teams.” But Klopp warned if City owner Sheikh
Mansour feels Guardiola is going to replicate his success at Barcelona and Bayern, he could be waiting a long time.
“It is impossible to compare [his time in Spain and Germany] but a team without Lionel Messi or one with Messi? Come on. A team with Andres Iniesta or without? A team with Xavi at his best or without?
“At Bayern he had another good situation, good players and a perfect age of the squad. You cannot compare.
“The big difference coming here is that there are a lot of teams with lots of money and lots of good players.
“In Spain it is always Madrid and maybe in a good year Valencia or Sevilla or Atletico.
“The rest are not good enough to be challenging Barcelona, who could play at 70 or 80 per cent there but not here. We lost to Hull and maybe they will get relegated. That’s an example. “You don’t have that in other leagues and that makes it really difficult to succeed every week.” Klopp is hoping Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi both come through training today after missing out during the week with niggles. One of the pair will start in the middle of a front three, with Firmino preferred. Jordan Henderson remains out with a foot injury the Liverpool boss hopes will be sorted out after the international break and in time for the visit of Everton to Anfield on April 1.