Man Utd threw ‘world-class players’ behind ball, claims Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in cheeky dig at rivals after draw
MANCHESTER UNITED threw all their ‘world-class players’ behind the ball to stop Liverpool, a frustrated Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said after their stalemate.
The two Premier League pace-setters played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield on Sunday as the Red Devils held on to their three-point advantage over last season’s champs.
But German manager Klopp, 53, was exasperated by opposite man Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s defensive tactics.
He branded the Norwegian’s cautious style as the ‘worst thing you can face in football’.
After the match, Klopp told BBC Sport: “We played football, tried to do it, force them back into their own box.
“The worst thing you can face in the world, in football is you play against a side with world-class players and they all defend with all they have, deep in the box and only counter-attack.
“It’s really difficult – that’s the biggest challenge.”
Liverpool had the better of the first-half but David De Gea went largely untroubled between the sticks for United.
United held firm in a 4-2-3-1 shape and had plenty of men behind the ball to keep Liverpool’s famed front three of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Robert Firmino quiet.
Klopp added: “The performance was good, especially the first-half was exceptionally good.”
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United – who could soon lose their place at the summit of the Prem after Manchester City moved within two points with a game in hand – had just 34.3 per cent of possession.
But the table-toppers had the two best chances only for both Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba to fluff their lines with Alisson making smart stops.
Klopp continued: “I think with all the things that were said before the game – ‘United is flying and we are struggling’ – and then playing this kind of game, I was really happy with that.
“We tried it in the second half again but you cannot deny United for 95 minutes, especially with the counter-attacking threat they have.
“They had two really good chances, I have to say, but we had our chances in the second half too.”
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