Liverpool vs Manchester United: Jurgen Klopp admits no team can dominate again like Sir Alex Ferguson’s United

Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp predicts an era of dominance last seen from Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering Manchester United will not be possible again due to the increased level of competition in England and the greater resources available to clubs.

The most successful manager in British football history transformed the Old Trafford side into the chief domestic force during his 26 years at the helm, lifting 13 league titles, two Champions Leagues and five FA Cups in the process. And Klopp, who dined with Ferguson in Worsley late last year in the name of charity, cannot imagine another reign as supreme as United’s under the Scot or the silverware-lined Liverpool sides that preceded their spell.

“To be honest, I don’t think the dominance like United had is possible again,” the German said. “Football changed completely, the power of different clubs changed completely. We made a couple of good decisions – that is why we got better.

“Other teams have the same chance. Players are coming up and you can make decisions. If a midfield player comes on the market and one club doesn’t need him, the other club needs him and can get him. Next year, he might not be on the market. It is like up and down so I don’t think a dominance like Liverpool had before and United had after is possible.

“It is more likely that different clubs will compete for different things because of the financial power of a lot of teams. Leicester has proper power, so they are coming up on top of the typical top six I would say – that makes it even more difficult.

“In that time, I wouldn’t say United won a lot of games four or five nil but they were predicted wins. It was clear if you went to certain places you would win. We have had a lot of games where we have won 2-1, 1-0 and had to dig in properly. These kind of things I don’t see.

“But being dominant is not important really. What is important is that you can fight every year for it. That is the only thing I need to know. That is enough.”

Liverpool are rewriting the record books en route to ending a three-decade wait for the title, having collected 61 points out of the available 63, but Klopp has dismissed any comparisons to Ferguson or other legendary managers. He recalled his time at Borussia Dortmund, where the adulation felt similar as he guided the team to Bundesliga honours.

“I had a similar situation in Dortmund in 2011 where we were surprisingly good and people ask us 5 million times, ‘will you be champions?’ or ‘when will you say you will be champions?’ Before the season, we had no clue we had a chance to be champions. Through the season it looked like we could, but none of us at one moment thought it. We all thought, ‘we have to win this game, we have to win the next game’.

“The questions were similar and all the stories were sensationally positive. I could nearly walk on water. That is how life is. I am not that negative that I believe they are always writing the positive stuff until they can knock us down but I know it happens, so really I am not interested in what people are saying about the situation.

“How can you not be positive about the situation? It would be quite difficult. But it does not affect me at all and so far it does not affect the boys. Whatever comparison you make I will only think about long after my career.”

Klopp, whose next challenge is overcoming United at Anfield on Saturday, is a huge admirer of Ferguson. The pair had a meal together as part of the 78-year-old’s fundraising to thank the NHS after his life-saving brain surgery in May 2018. Ferguson helped raise £405,000 and the dinner with him and the Liverpool boss in Greater Manchester fetched a £100,000 bid.

“I have a really good relationship with him and when I met him first it was, ‘Alex Ferguson’ with another word in the middle,” Klopp said, hinting at an expletive to underline his awe in the moment.

“It was unbelievable. I was a very young manager at Dortmund, who had never met him before and from the first second we had a super conversation. I needed 20 minutes to get used to his Scottish accent, but then I was in. We had a super conversation and from that moment on, we were in contact.

“Now he is not managing United anymore and so when I was there [at the dinner], he was not the former manager of United. He was just a very, very nice guy and there were a couple of other people there who were for United.

“I had my Liverpool smartphone on the table all night and nobody left the table. It was just nice, really nice – time flew. It was all good. Ryan Giggs was there as well and Bryan Robson. It was completely nice. I had no problem and they were OK as well.”

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