The defining characteristic of sports is competition; and thus comparisons are both inevitable and natural. While many coaches don’t care for comparisons and tend to dismiss them, it’s really what competition is all about. There is a statistic currently circulating on the internet, comparing Jurgen Klopp’s first 29 Premier League matches leading Liverpool to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United.
It will naturally surprise many to learn that OGS holds a two point advantage in this comparison. While the Norwegian got off to a blistering start, as interim manager, he has faltered since being named permanent boss.
United are off to their worst start in three decades this season (the worst of the Premier League era), and haven’t achieved a road win in seven months. Heading into the weekend’s headliner fixture and arch-rivalry match, United are huge underdogs, deservedly so.
Klopp got off to a rough start at Anfield, but he’s turned it around completely. The German has a UCL title, three European final appearances and a Premier League season that yielded the third most points of any team in the PL era.
“You can never compare situations — mine when I came in and his now,” Klopp responded today when the stat comparison was put to him.
“Man United is a massive club and no one is really ready to wait for success. It was not much different for me. If you asked after those 29 games, I’m sure there was not 100 per cent agreement that I was the perfect manager for Liverpool.”
“That’s how it is.”
“If there was doubt internally [about Solskjaer], that would be bad but as long as it’s only externally, that’s not important. It’s not important what you write. It’s important what the board, Woodward and the Glazer family tell him. I have no clue and no opinion.”
“I want every manager in the world to have as much time as they can get to bring through their ideas, but you can never compare situations.”
The German also rejected the notion of Solskjaer needing his advice.
“No. He doesn’t need it,” Klopp continued.
“He was at the club for 10-15 years, he knows everything there, he has experience in football. He knows what he has to do. It just has to work out, how it has to for all of us.”
“That’s why so many of us get the sack, because if someone internally loses the patience, then we have to go. From my point of view, it looks like he is settled there. They all knew it was a difficult job.”
“Nobody loses to you because you are Liverpool or Manchester United, it’s about what you do on the pitch. Opponents are all on their toes and motivated when you come there. That’s part of a big challenge we face.
“You don’t have to worry about Ole, he is in a big position and has the chance to win the game on the weekend. We want to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Liverpool at Manchester United: Sunday October 20, 4:30 pm, Old Trafford
Team News Articles: United Liverpool
Early match preview: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: United Liverpool
Press Conference Videos, Quotes: United Liverpool
Odds: Liverpool win 4/5, Man United win 5/4
Google Result Probability: Liverpool win 55%, Man United win 24%, Draw 21%
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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