Clash of the Titans
United and Liverpool go head to head
Jürgen Klopp channelled the spirit of a six-year-old boy counting down the sleeps to Christmas Day when looking ahead to his trip to Manchester United. “When I woke up this morning I thought, ‘Yes, only two days to go’,” Klopp said in his pre-match briefing.
Given his record against the rest of the top six, his excitement is understandable. Since he moved to England, his side have played 13 Premier League games against Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs. He has been beaten once, when Louis van Gaal’s United stole victory at Anfield just over a year ago. Extend it to the cups and the record is played 17, lost two.
This season Klopp has been the master of the ceremonial fixtures, defeating Arsenal, Chelsea and City and drawing with United and Tottenham – 11 points from 15, leading the head-to-heads between the top six. Should he match that return in the second half of the season, Liverpool will be virtually guaranteed a Champions League position.
These are the moments Klopp’s ‘seize the day’ mantra comes to the fore, his enthusiasm for the most high-profile games designed to stir rather than control passions.
Whether it is rallying cries to his own supporters, or team meetings to urge players to approach every sprint and tackle as if it is their last, Klopp is not averse to sounding more like a boxing promoter than a manager. His readiness to embrace and elevate the hype around English football’s most regal fixtures is curiously reassuring.
There are no futile attempts to suggest this is ‘just another match’ where the three points on offer are comparable to those against Swansea next weekend – particularly given the current ramifications for the league table and title challenge. And although Klopp insists the motivation levels are the same no matter the opponent, he relishes the idea of these games mattering more.
“This is Manchester United, with all the special things about the game – left and right – history, quality, position in the table. The whole world will be watching,” said Klopp. “That is one of the most exciting things I can think about, and we will be part of it. It is perfect. Maybe a lot of people who think about the game will think United are in a good run, Liverpool not that good. I think it is the best time to jump. So go.”
But for all Klopp’s motivational powers, and although the German coach acknowledges the higher standard of opposition demands distinctive preparation on his training pitch, the reason his side have performed so well in these games has as much to do with the approach of Liverpool’s opponents. Top-six rivals are more likely to take the game to Liverpool; a rarity in the Klopp era.
There are certain traits in a Klopp side that for much of the season they have been unable to demonstrate against deep-defending mid-table or relegation-threatened sides.
Liverpool can be most dangerous without the ball, stealing possession and punishing mistakes. Privately, Klopp will have noted the recent acclaim for a more ambitious, attacking United and wonder – possibly even hope – this will manifest itself at Old Trafford today. If so, it will ensure the tactical challenge significantly departs from most weeks.
“Yes, we have different things to do,” said Klopp. “Against Manchester United for example, we don’t have to think about 80 per cent possession, it will not happen. So you have to think about different things. Even though we have improved in possession, we can still be this really good defensive team and counter-attacking team.
“The situation is different, it is more difficult to play against 10 defending guys in the wrong moment because you need freshness, creativity of the whole bunch of players, everything.
“At home to United with their quality of players, we had to make the game, to be dominant and they could defend and jump in between. If it’s different on Sunday, we are ready. We can try the same if we need to. We will be ready for all and the players have to deliver. I cannot change that. But to create the atmosphere where everybody believes in our chance, that’s pretty simple.
“We have made our best games against other clubs, but of course we made good games against City and against Chelsea earlier in the season but we needed a goal of magic to win it. Against Tottenham we were also better. We needed luck at Chelsea, a little bit less luck at Arsenal, but it was very early in the season.
“I am not sure it is likely, but it could be that we do a different job and United will not be organised as they were here. You need to have a look at what they are doing and force them to do more things they don’t want to before the game.”
The pertinent question is will Manchester United really decide to join an exclusive club and take the game to Liverpool? When they met last October, Mourinho drilled his side to allow Liverpool the ball where they could not hurt United.
It would be no surprise if Mourinho reverted to type, even on home ground. He is a champion of dogged as much as swashbuckling victories. Mourinho will recognise Liverpool had less possession in those games against the top six which they won – below 50 per cent against Arsenal, Chelsea and City – than against United at Anfield, when they created so little. United had just 35 per cent possession in October’s 0-0. “We lost at Burnley, for example, with 80 per cent possession,” Klopp noted.
The game will be decided by the strategy of the A-list coaches. It feels the game of bluff and counter-bluff has begun.
“Jose is a real competitor, so if he thinks defending deep makes sense, I would not be too surprised,” said Klopp. “My coaches and I, we played Jose a few times, and he is very, very competitive. But so are we.”