by It was like Disneyland, according to Ed Woodward’s infamous, almost apocryphal and ultimately unsuccessful sales pitch. It wasn’t enough to convince Jurgen Klopp to join Manchester United. Later, he registered for historical rivals. He was an indictment on United, not an inspiration to them. Klopp’s nine-season battle against United comes to an end on Sunday.
In some ways, it’s just shading. United finished ahead of Liverpool four times, including the season when Klopp was parachuted into Anfield in October.
The final score will only be 5-4. Klopp will have won another record: seven wins to five so far, but, explosive as many of his games have shown, it is also higher. He has not scored for United in two games this season, despite 59 shots. He lost on both trips to Old Trafford in Erik ten Hag’s reign. He has only won twice in 10 visits there.
And yet those victories were vital, sensational, great. A 4-2 in May 2021, three days before Alisson headed in Liverpool’s injury-time winner against West Bromwich Albion, amid a surge into Champions League places from a team without senior specialist centre-backs. Rookies Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips played at Old Trafford, the latter assisting Diogo Jota’s goal, before fading back into obscurity.
Five months later, there were five goals in the first 50 minutes; Liverpool were 5-0 up, Paul Pogba came on and was promptly dismissed and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer declared it his darkest day as United manager. He made sure there weren’t too many more days either: he went on for four more games.
And he emphasized a feature. Klopp’s win felt important and consequential; immediate illustrations of where United were going wrong, sometimes as a catalyst for change. Jose Mourinho was sacked two days after a 3-1 win at Anfield in 2018 when the scoreline belied Liverpool’s level of dominance as they conceded 36 shots.
That was Klopp’s second win. His first, in the Uefa Cup in 2016, was an advertisement for the energy of his football. He suggested that Liverpool employed the future and that United had the past, in Louis van Gaal; they soon came to that conclusion as well. His third win was also 2-0 at Anfield: it ended with the Kop, cut short by near misses, a chorus: “We’re going to win the league”. Sir Alex Ferguson took Liverpool off the field: Klopp then restored them and the second goal, which sparked an unstoppable admission from his fans, was assisted by Alisson.
It was scored by the single most influential player in the competition in the Klopp years. Mohamed Salah added a hat-trick in the 5-0 win. He has a goal in his last five visits to Old Trafford, a record 10 league goals in the game. In contrast, United have only scored twice at Anfield during Klopp’s tenure.
The pair of victories at Old Trafford in 2021 were Klopp’s fourth and fifth. There’s a case to be made that the sixth-place finish represented the best performance of all: when they were ousted 4-0 at Anfield in April 2022, the aggregate score between the clubs that season was 9-0. It was a masterclass with Thiago Alcantara, two more goals with Salah and some confusing thoughts by the father of the father. gegenpressing perhaps they were conceived as United’s answer to Klopp, with Ralf Rangnick drafting Phil Jones and switching to a back three. It didn’t work.
Then there’s the latest, the most impressive win of all time in a game that dates back to 1894. Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0: a score that will echo through the ages. “One for the history books,” said Klopp. “Crazy score.” But his reign saw many of them, occasions that cannot be missed, days that cannot be forgotten.
Part of the measure of Klopp’s success is that he has claimed two trophies that United have never threatened to lift over the past decade, the Premier League and the Champions League, even if he has finished second more often than the first. Another thing is that he has delivered most of what the owners and supporters of United, two very different constituencies, would have: success on a budget, without criticizing the power brokers, still generating a bond with the crowd, offering football entertainment, emphasizing its understanding. something special about his club. Meanwhile, on and off the pitch, United have lost their way.
If Liverpool’s job description for their next manager is to copy Klopp, the same could be said of every United manager in recent years; now, having played his part in finishing Mourinho and Solskjaer, he could help Ten Hag’s doom. Or, perhaps, United could pull off a double blow for Klopp’s farewell, costing Liverpool the FA Cup, ending their Premier League title push. Ten Hag has already changed his regime by registering his first win at Klopp’s expense: his FA Cup win last month may help buy him another season. But even if Klopp manages to win against United, Liverpool are the real winners of his rivalry with the club who once tried to hire him.
