Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp wisely refused to be drawn into a war of words with Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho. The German said that he is simply “not interested” in what Mourinho has to say about Liverpool, while also acknowledging that his side had a 2015-16 season that was similar to what Manchester United just experienced this past campaign.
Both Chelsea and Liverpool were without European football this past season and it worked to their advantage. The former won the Premier League title while the latter reached the top four. Mourinho said that this upcoming season will be tougher for both as they will now face the added workload.
It’s classic Mourinho mind games- attempting to stir the pot with two of his biggest rivals. However, Klopp tried to stay above the fray.
“I’m not interested in what Jose Mourinho says,” Jurgen Klopp responded to a query on this topic.
“Why should I talk about Manchester United? Jose is talking about us, yes. OK, we had a season like Man United the year before. I don’t know if anybody asked us how it feels. Sorry that we lost the final, yes. We played Sevilla, they played Ajax. That’s the difference.
“So we suffered during the season. The Europa League was hard. 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.”
Klopp doesn’t want to get into a preseason verbal smack down with the Portugese, but instead politely answered the reporter’s query. He handled another question, about the summer transfer business of Everton and Man United, in a similar polite, non-confrontational manner (more on that here).
“I don’t want to be part of this. I answer if you ask, but I am not interested.”
You can’t blame the reporter for trying, as he’s only doing his job.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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