Managers main reason Liverpool and United diverging

It was early in Jurgen Klopp’s first full season at Liverpool and he was facing Manchester United.

Klopp was hoping to celebrate his first anniversary by going level with Manchester City at the top of the English Premier League. Instead, Jose Mourinho secured a 0-0 draw by nullifying what he sarcastically described as “the last wonder of the world” — Liverpool’s attack.

A forgettable game did not disguise the fact Liverpool were becoming a force again. Three years on, Klopp is celebrating another anniversary in vastly different circumstances, this time taking on United to consolidate top spot.

Now it is the United manager seeking to re-establish his club’s status at the start of his first full season. So much of the build-up to tomorrow’s encounter has focused on comparing the Liverpool and Manchester United of 2019. This is unfair on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. His work should be compared with that of Klopp in 2015-16.

The stats might say Solskjaer’s record in his first 29 matches is equal to Klopp’s but the reality is far grimmer. He is nowhere near replicating Klopp’s early impact.

There is no excuse for being so far behind, regardless of the circumstances in which Solskjaer took over. The United starting XI against Newcastle is the worst I can remember in the Premier League era, and yet the problems cannot all be attributed to a poor legacy.

The side Klopp inherited in October 2015 was arguably a lot worse, yet his impact was immediate. From Klopp’s line-up against Tottenham on that first day, only Divock Origi, James Milner, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne remain at the club. The back four included Mamadou Sakho and Alberto Moreno, while Jerome Sinclair and Connor Randall were substitutes.

Before Klopp’s appointment, Liverpool’s owners and recruitment team took as much flak as Ed Woodward today. Under Klopp, those same executives and scouts are hailed as the ultimate example of patience being rewarded. In the story of the modern Liverpool, we will talk about the club before and after Klopp’s arrival. The club’s transformation quickened after he was unveiled.

It may have taken him three full seasons to win his first trophy at Liverpool — and he may win the Premier League in his fourth — but any rival chief executive (or pundit) claiming it took a while to yield positive results is rewriting history.

Klopp led Liverpool to their current position by meeting a series of demanding but realistic targets one step at a time.

Managers should never just be judged on who they sign or how much they spend. It is what they get

from those players that tells you about their coaching ability.

Liverpool did not make a senior signing in the last off-season, yet they look even better now than a year ago.

That is what separates Liverpool today from when they finished runners-up in the Premier League in 2002, 2009 and 2014, got busy in the transfer market and went so far back, they did not even qualify for the Champions League a year later.

It is also what differentiates them from Manchester United, who have tried to re-establish themselves by signing players considered gamechangers. They have backed their managers but talented players have not improved. Most have gone backwards.

So what does this mean when Liverpool play at United tomorrow? Absolutely nothing. Liverpool will finish well above United but a game at Old Trafford is a different beast.

I am reminded of a 2009 game at Anfield. We had suffered the worst sequence of results for more than 20 years and all the pre-match talk was of a United hammering. We won 2-0.

We enjoyed our short-term triumph, only to realise that while we could always give United a bloody nose once a season, we were unable to inflict lasting damage by keeping up with them.

Now the clubs are heading in different directions and if you want to sum up what Liverpool possess that United lack, it really comes down to this: a world-class manager.