Jurgen Klopp today described his ability to understand the emotions behind a derby match as ‘genius,’ as Liverpool prepare to host Everton tomorrow at Anfield.
Our German boss has so far won the two derbies he’s managed in England, earning a 4-0 win last term and a 1-0 victory at Goodison Park before Christmas – making him the only boss in our history to secure positive results in his opening two games against Everton.
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Klopp explains why he didn’t enjoy Liverpool’s 4-0 Everton thrashing
Klopp had a good record against Schalke while in charge of Dortmund as well and reckons that because he understands the feelings of the city, he can get his teams in the right frame of mind.
He told reporters, such as these ones from Goal: “I am not skilled in many parts of life but maybe I am a genius in understanding derbies because I didn’t need a second to understand this.
“The world stops for 90 minutes in a city. Football is not the most important thing in the world but in a few moments we love to think it is.
“There are not too many other cities around the world with two clubs of this size and importance. These are the games you look forward to.
“[We need to] be aggressive, but not too aggressive and fight for everything to try to make our supporters happy.”
In fairness, Klopp is skilled in other parts of management, but he’s right in that he definitely appreciates the importance of these matches!
If we beat Everton we’ll go nine points clear of them and make their chances of catching us very slim.
We also need to put space between ourselves, Arsenal and Manchester United, who have games in hand are will be desperate to catch up in the race for the top four.
It’s not often a game against Everton has meant so much, actually.