Liverpool manger Jurgen Klopp steered clear of a war of words with his Manchester United counterpart Jose Mourinho, who had remarked that there would not be lot to choose between teams at the top of the English Premier League pile because of Chelsea and Liverpool playing in Europe.
The German said that it didn’t matter to him what the Portuguese thinks but didn’t refrain from reminding his rivals of their recent history, where the Red Devils have blown hot and cold in the league. He said: “I’m not interested in what Jose Mourinho says. Why should I talk about Manchester United? Jose is talking about us, yes. We had a season of what Man United had the year before.”
Klopp said he was not interested in how the defending champions shape up during the season, but hinted that they would have it tougher than their previous campaign: “Yes, Chelsea will feel also the difference, they played something like 13 players last season. But it’s also not my problem if they use only 11, well done. I do not want to be part of this – I am not interested,” he added.
‘We played Sevilla, they played Ajax’
Talking about Liverpool’s 1-3 loss in the Europa League final in the 2014-’15 season to Sevilla, Klopp pointed at the gulf in class between Sevilla [Five-time winners] and Dutch giants Ajax, “Sorry that we lost the final yes, that’s right. We played Sevilla, they played Ajax. That’s the difference. I don’t know if anybody asked us how it felt [then],” the former Borussia Dortmund boss said.
In what could be interpreted as another one of his trademark tongue-in-cheek potshot, Mourinho had earlier observed that there would be little difference between the top seven sides of the Premier League. United finished sixth last season, 24 points behind champions Chelsea. “This season is going to be a little more balanced because of the fact the top six are all in European competitions,” Mourinho said.
The former Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Chelsea manager rued the fixture congestion his side had to cope with last season, “Chelsea and Liverpool played all season one match per week, with all the others playing in Europeans competitions – especially us, playing in Europa League.
“Next season, six teams, and also Everton, are going to play in Europe and that is going to create a new situation for Chelsea and Liverpool,” Mourinho added.