‘RESULT NOT STYLE MOUR IMPORTANT’
against the big opponents, but in the smaller games they feel less pressure and they perform better.
“This profile of team cannot be champions.
‘‘ To be champions you have to be there match after match, point after point.
“If you cannot get three, you get one. It’s about the quality of the team, but also of the resilience of the group.”
LIVERPOOL:
TOTTENHAM:
JURGEN KLOPP believes Jose Mourinho’s results-overstyle philosophy is what makes him one of the best managers in the world. The Kop boss faces his Spurs opposite number tonight in a top-of-the-table clash at Anfield.
It is almost two years since the last time Mourinho visited the home of the Reds and it was a much bleaker time for him.
The 3-1 defeat that day (Mourinho reacts to Xherdan Shaqiri’s goal, above) would be his last game in charge of Manchester United and led to many questioning if his methods meant he could no longer cut it against the likes of Klopp.
But here he is returning with a Spurs side in confident mood, looking to stay top and take a three-point lead over the defending champions.
“I don’t think you can compare the last game of Man United with how they play now. From a confidence level, that’s completely different,” said Klopp.
“With the very long time Jose Mourinho has been successful in the football business, he played pretty much all different systems, and a lot of different styles.
“As a coach, you always have to adapt to the quality you have, and mix it up with the idea you have. That’s one of Jose’s best skills.
“In the end, it’s all about getting results – and maybe that’s the best skill of Jose!
“In the decisive moments, he’s not bothered about style, only about results, and that makes him one of the most successful managers around. “I respect that a lot.” Mourinho seems a different man, more positive and outgoing than the sulky figure who left Old Trafford under a grey cloud, which can be seen in his regular use of social media.
Klopp said: “But did he reinvent himself? I don’t know. It looks a little bit like it when you see him on Instagram!
“But apart from that, he’s just so experienced and smart that he knows what he has to do. In the beginning, he asked for time, and it paid off.”
Mourinho’s style has brought results and the best out of players such as Harry Kane and Heung-min Son. He is answering the critics by turning Tottenham into title challengers again.
Klopp, who will make a late decision on the fitness of defender Joel Matip, added: “I’m not surprised Mourinho was written off, because that’s the world we are living in – you are very successful until yesterday.
“And if you cannot prove it today, then people go for you. But he showed comeback skills.
“He turned them into a results machine.”