Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp accepts he had an easier introduction into the Premier League than Manchester United counterpart Erik ten Hag.
United’s new boss has lost his first two matches and now faces their arch-rivals at Old Trafford on Monday. Klopp was reluctant to comment on the difficulties the Dutchman has had but said in comparison to his own early days Ten Hag has had it tougher. “I think for me it was easier because I didn’t come for the start of the season, we didn’t have a transfer window,” he said. “In England people tend to say then, ‘Yeah, it’s not his team.’ So whatever I did, you would have said, ‘It’s not his team.’ “I actually thought after one day it’s my team, so I felt really responsible for all the performances from the first game.
But it’s easier. “And now, I don’t think you can really compare it, different times. My arrival is probably seven years ago – it’s a long time in football, a lot of things changed since then. “But it’s not easy, definitely not, especially when you have to ‘rebuild’, or however they see it, but change a lot of things (in a) team.
That’s not easy.” Ten Hag has struggled to introduce the high-tempo press he wants his team to play and while they beat Liverpool 4-0 in a pre-season friendly – a match in which Klopp used three separate teams over 90 minutes – two defeats from their first two Premier League matches have shown how difficult it will be to change things. “It’s obvious what he wants to do, he wants to build up from the back,” added Klopp, who had to do a similar job in terms of tactics when he arrived in 2015. “We played them in the pre-season obviously.