Jurgen Klopp spoke in length about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the impact the Norwegian has had on Manchester United, today.
We’re playing our biggest rival on Sunday, in what’s the biggest fixture between the two teams in some time – due to us going for the title and United desperate to stop us (even though it will only aid Manchester City…).
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Klopp reckons Solskjaer has done a superb job, which he undeniably has – and that it was clear Jose Mourinho needed to leave and a change made.
“Everything I could say now, you would make a story that sounds like I was disrespectful to Jose Mourinho! There is no reason for that, he is an outstanding manager but it looked towards the end like they had a difficult time together and they found a solution to improve that situation that obviously worked out,” Klopp said, reported in the Echo.
“Since Ole is there, pretty much everything changed. We see the Pogba that Man United signed a couple of years ago, Herrera is in outstanding shape, all the offensive players are there and full of confidence. They were all good before but now they use all their potential, and that makes a big difference.
“Sometimes you need changes in football, often it is the manager and sometimes – not always – it helps. In this case obviously it helped.”
Back in December, we beat United 3-1, but in truth the performance was so dominant that the scoreline flattered the visitors.
Mourinho parked the bus, was embarrassed, and was sacked a few days later.
The feeling at Old Trafford now though is in polar-opposite, with a fan favourite at the helm and Paul Pogba playing superbly.
We’re not pretending we’re favourites or that it’s going to be an easy game – it’ll be very, very hard.
The key is that our attackers take their chances when they come, and that we take advantage of the fact United will play an offensive game.
Bring it on!