A back-handed compliment if ever we heard one.
Liverpool hosted Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday afternoon in a top of the table clash and, as has become something of a tradition in this rivalry, it lived up to the billing.
By that we mean it was not a great game, a common trend in the majority of these fixtures in recent years. It wasn’t awful though, and United have received plaudits from many for the number of efforts they had on goal throughout.
They threatened on occasion, particularly late on as they grew into the game, and the home side had their goalkeeper to thank for making two key saves in particular.
Speaking to the BBC after the game, Jurgen Klopp commented on the difficulty his side faced against United, whose counter-attacking style he said the “worst thing” to face in football.
“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,” he said.
“It’s really difficult – that’s the biggest challenge.”
Liverpool now sit fourth – behind United, Manchester City and Leicester City in the table – and Klopp admitted that his side face a difficult challenge to retain the title they won at a canter last year, and said that, right now, his focus is to qualify for the Champions League.
“In the season when we came second (2018-19), the day when I started really thinking about the title race was the day when it was clear that we are in the Champions League,” he added.
“I know my job and I know what I have to do. The most important thing is to qualify for the Champions League and I know how difficult it is. This season will be a tough race for the top four. True.
“I have no idea and I cannot decide how people look at it. I know that football fans in general are not the most patient species on this planet, so they want to win each football game.
“I’m not too different to that but I am long enough in the business to know that you have to go through more difficult periods as well.
“It’s not the most difficult in my life – not even close to it – so it’s just a situation where we play football and have had injuries, still have injuries but got used to the injuries we had in the long term and now players coming back.”
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