Klopp: United game good prep for West Brom

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool’s showdown with a physical and stubborn Manchester United has his team in good stead for their hosting of West Brom.

Liverpool were frustrated as they played out a bore draw with United in the Premier League on Monday, Klopp’s men stifled by the discipline and physicality of their arch-rivals at Anfield.

Klopp and Co. are set to come up against another physically imposing team in West Brom on Saturday and the German manager feels the United clash has his team well-equipped for another aerial contest.

“We all know we have had to watch out for a few problems that we had last season, although we are not suffering from the same amount,” Klopp said.

“We are a football-playing side and Manchester United were more physical and stronger than we were with a lot of tall players. We did it well and I cannot remember there was a big advantage in this game out of these situations.

“We need to be ready again for situations like this [on Saturday]. You can always use a few things from the last game but on the other hand it will be different again. Defending these balls was important, very important in the United game and will be important in the next game. Playing football would have been important in the Man United game too and will be very important in the West Brom game. There is a lot of work to do.”

While United were criticised for their display on Merseyside, Jose Mourinho was quick to shift the blame on Liverpool having deployed Jordan Henderson and Emre Can as holding midfielders.

With WBA on the forefront of Klopp’s mind, he refused to be drawn on Mourinho’s post-match comments.

“I am not interested in it,” Klopp said. “I thought the game was over, so why should I talk about it still? I don’t care what anybody says after the game.

“I know the game already and I know what I have to learn from it. You want to write what you saw and if it is the same and what other people say, I don’t know if that is good or bad, but use it or leave it.

“Don’t bother me with things like that. I am not a per cent interested. You cannot win the game after the game, which I have learnt early on in my career. We have a point and it felt positive because it was one more point than before the game. It was a good experience for us, we were not perfect, that is all.”