Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp cheekily said “who cares” when asked if Manchester United will go 30 years without winning a top-flight title. He also took a swipe at Arsenal by claiming they are no longer a “proper” rival.
Liverpool are three points behind league-leaders United heading into their clash on Sunday evening.
Klopp ended the Reds’ 30-year wait for a Premier League title in emphatic fashion last year.
United have not finished in top spot since Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement in 2013.
Liverpool had to spend many years watching the Red Devils lift trophies galore under their legendary manager.
It could now be Klopp’s turn to inflict decades of misery on their closest rivals.
But the Liverpool boss claims nobody will care if United go three decades without getting their hands on the Premier League title.
“The potential of United is incredible, of course, so I don’t know about the next thirty years – but who cares?” Klopp smiled.
“It’s not a surprise that United couldn’t win it the last eight years. Because if you are not in a top place and don’t play the best possible football in that year you can’t win it.
“Just because you are Man United or Liverpool means nothing. You win because you are the best that specific season.
“They may have been close once but then City came up in a crazy way and won it quite a lot of times, Chelsea was still there, Leicester did it in 2016. But am I surprised United haven’t won it, no.”
Meanwhile, Klopp also reflected on his five years in charge of Liverpool and how each of his rivals have change.
In one sly dig at the Gunners, Klopp explains how they are no longer a threat.
“I needed time not just because of the team we had but much more because of the situation other clubs were in,” he said.
“They were just on a different level.
“Manchester United were on a different level when I arrived, City were on a completely different level, Chelsea, of course, different level, Leicester became champions that year, Arsenal was still a proper, proper team, Tottenham were second in the year I arrived.
“So we didn’t have to just sort out our own problems, we had to become competitive again, that was the first thing.
“But that was of course not enough for the people, they didn’t want to hear me saying, ‘We have to beat first Tottenham and then them and then them, we have to get there piece by piece’.
“They wanted me to say, ‘We will be there next summer’, and that of course was impossible.
“We gave ourselves the time and that was the difference maker.”
