Klopp shrugs off Mourinho jibe ahead of Man United clash
>> CHICAGO: Juergen Klopp on Friday laughed off suggestions by Jose Mourinho that Liverpool’s transfer spending spree meant the club faced greater pressure to win the Premier League title.
Liverpool have spent heavily this year as they attempt to close the gap on champions Manchester City, splashing out more than £200 million for Alisson, Naby Keita, Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri and Virgil van Dijk.
Mourinho said earlier this week that Liverpool’s transfer activity ought to increase expectation of a title victory.
“Maybe this season, finally, you demand that they win,” Mourinho said during United’s pre-season tour of the United States.
“With the investments you are making last season and you make now, that will probably be the record of the Premier League this season, a team that was a finalist in the Champions League — you have to say you are a big candidate, you have to win,” added Mourinho.
Klopp, whose Liverpool side took on Mourinho’s Manchester United in Michigan this morning (Thai time) as part of the International Champions Cup exhibition tournament, shrugged off the remarks on Friday.
“What can I say about that? Jose can say what he wants to say to be honest,” Klopp told reporters in Ann Arbor.
“I’m not too much interested in Manchester United. I’m pretty sure they will do business as well in the next few days, but we know about our responsibility.
“We feel responsible only for our fans, for our owners, for the supporters all over the world, nobody else. That’s the situation.
“We are ambitious, we never said anything different. We have to deliver — what that means exactly, I don’t know in this moment.
“But a big part of the job is to play football that our people like. That happened last year, probably the year before as well, and now we are in the situation where we want to make the next step.
“But the opponents don’t sleep. We know that. It means our life is not easier because we brought a few players in. We only feel a bit better prepared than last year. That’s all.”
Meanwhile, Shaqiri has set his sights on winning the Champions League for a second time following his move to the Premier League club from Stoke City earlier this month.
The 26-year-old, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013, said Liverpool had enough quality in the squad to go one better than last season when they lost to Real Madrid in the final.
“I hope I can repeat that because I know how it feels to win the Champions League,” Shaqiri said.
“It is really amazing and I think we can do it. We have good quality — especially with the new players that have been brought in — they have very good quality.
“I think the important thing is to be successful, and to be successful you need to win some titles and trophies and I hope we can lift some trophies this year.”