The atmosphere is always flammable, it is enough for someone to light a match and everything will explode. Trent Alexander Arnold did it by saying that Manchester City is a machine that is made to win, that it has won more titles in the era of Pep Guardiola, but that trophies mean more to Liverpool fans, due to the financial situation that is not the same in both clubs.The Liverpool full-back stirred passions on the Island. A lot of dust was raised, many aimed at TAA, and before the derby Jurgen Klopp stood up for the guy who was a ball boy at Anfield, and was also in the stands. The ‘fight’ started even before the players ran onto the field. The first punch came from the right back of the hosts.That is why the German tried to make the atmosphere a bit more chill.”I’m not sure how often we should say we respect City. Pep is the best coach in the world. They have incredible players, the best ‘nine’, Kevin de Bruyne, who will go down in history with Steven Gerrard. Phil Foden is the best English player. Trent understands that, but he’s a Liverpool fan, he used to stand on the sidelines. The slogan ‘This means more’ really means more to us,” said Jurgen Klopp and continued:”Two years ago, a parade was organized even though we were defeated in the Champions League and the Premier League. Tell me what other city would do something like that to make it look like we won? This club is special for us. I’m pretty sure Trent showed respect too. Manchester City have been the most successful for years, maybe even in Europe. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what he said. We are still allowed to think what we want”.Trent aims jibe at City, Haaland delivers a brutal responceThe German strategist does not think that the derby will decide who will be the champion of England. Because, no matter how it ends, the difference will not be noticeable.”Big game, but is it decisive in the race for the title? I’m not sure. It is quite early. I don’t think anyone will open the champagne, whatever the result. True, we have the advantage. We are playing against an incredibly strong opponent, we do not hide that we want to win, but we also know how difficult it will be. I am very excited”.As always, he spoke about his rivalry with Pep Guardiola.”I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry, but I understand that you call it that. We are both competitive and want to win. We are also blessed to have such players. What we have is not a rivalry. I said before: ‘There will always be a lot of respect’. We could meet again in the FA Cup. We have several players who have played such games 20 times”, said Klopp and continued to shower the Cityzens’ strategist with compliments:”Look at all the trophies he has won… But if you look at him from the sidelines, he acts like he hasn’t won any. He is eager, I can see it when I face him. He has done so many different things with the teams he has managed over the years, always basing the game around possession but sometimes long balls. Ederson shoots and Aguero waits… It’s hard to defend. It has offered so many different things over the years. For me, Pep is an outstanding coach”.##NAJAVA_MECA_7939336##Klopp’s tenure at Anfield could have been even more successful if it hadn’t been for Pep, who won the trophy with Manchester City, but that fact does not frustrate the German.”I was never frustrated (with Guardiola). I love the game, he never frustrated me and made me a better coach. I have a positive score against Pep, I don’t know how it happened. I know I’m pretty good at what I do. I’m not bad, but he’s the best. Most of the time during this job I don’t face Guardiola”.He also believes that the Spaniard is a better coach, however, he did not want to spend energy on explaining why, nor to get into the nitty-gritty.”It is too detailed to describe now why he is better. I can’t say where, but maybe there are areas where I’m better, I don’t know. I can’t tell the difference now. Maybe it’s a matter of taste? Some people might like the way we play better. I love him, otherwise I would have played differently if he hadn’t played like that”.He may not be performing at the level of last season, but Erling Haaland is just a shade less lethal this season. That has to change, and positive signals are coming from Kevin de Bruyne’s return. So far, he has scored 18 goals in the Premier League alone, a total of 29 on three fronts.##EDITORS_CHOICE##However, Liverpool’s defense will not be focused only on Haaland, because if they focus only on him – they will be punished from elsewhere. The Reds need a good plan.”Haaland is smart, he doesn’t fight with one defender. Everything is different. He is wise enough not to be constantly around the one defender he considers the best or the opposite. It’s not like that, not anymore, we have to defend the whole City team. If van Dijk ‘cancels’ Haaland, then Foden, De Bruyne or Rodri can shoot. Or somebody else. This game has many aspects and we have 48 hours to prepare for the game. We know we are good, we also know they are good – let’s play”.And playing at Anfield is something special.”Anfield affected our game from time to time. The atmosphere our fans create is second to none. Am I allowed to say that or will people be offended? It will be energetic, it will be full. These are the games you want to play, the games you want to watch. Enfield is a big and important factor for us. The fans will help us”, said the German and added:”The boys showed that they have an exceptional mentality. There were red cards, wins, crazy injuries, really bad ones. But the boys performed fantastically. The decisive part of the season has arrived and for now everything is good, but we don’t want to stop”.”This means more to us!”Jurgen Klopp fully supports Trent Alexander-Arnold’s recent comments on comparing Liverpool’s titles to Man City’s 🤝 pic.twitter.com/bTKMUoDAfA— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 8, 2024 Finally, he touched on the state of health within the team. He is still not sure if Ibrahim Konate will be available, but others will.”Joe Gomez is fine. I don’t know about Konate… He was very positive last night. He’s going to the scanner and I don’t have the results yet. The others are fine”, concluded Jurgen Klopp.
