'You could not do this at Liverpool': Jurgen Klopp blasts Jose Mourinho's tactics

Jurgen Klopp has criticised Jose Mourinho's defensive approach, suggesting he would not be allowed to adopt such negative tactics at Liverpool.

On Saturday (14 October), Manchester United held the Reds to a stalemate draw at Anfield for the second consecutive season, leaving the German frustrated.

"I'm sure if we played like this, you could not do this at Liverpool," Klopp told reporters after the game.

"Obviously for United it is OK."

Liverpool enjoyed 63% of possession and had the best chance of the game late in the first half, when David De Gea produced an outstanding save to deny Joël Matip from close range. The Reds dominated possession in the second half and were the most enterprising of the two sides but failed to create any clear cut chances, while United seemed content with a point.

"It's quite difficult when a top-class team like United has that defensive approach," Klopp said.

"I think United came here for the point and they got it. We wanted three points and didn't get it.

"We were dominant, it is a home game for us so we should be dominant. I am okay with the performance - it is not my job to judge the United performance."

The result left Liverpool in eight place, seven points behind United and nine points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City. More worryingly for Klopp, his side have won just once in the last eight games in all competitions but the German remained adamant the gap between Liverpool and United was not as big as suggested by the table.

"For me today, one team who can become champion this year was in our stadium and is not a world apart from us," he explained.

"It's not that we are playing different planets and they are really good and we do not find the entrance to the stadium."

Meanwhile, Mourinho defended his tactics, suggesting United had gone to Anfield looking to win the match, which developed into a "game of chess" in the second half.

"I was waiting for Jurgen [Klopp] to change, I was waiting for him to go more attacking but he kept the three strong midfielders all the time where he was having control because I only had Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic," Mourinho said.

"When I brought on Jesse Lingard and Rashford I was waiting for him to bring on Daniel Sturridge or Dominic Solanke.

"But he decided to change player by player and kept the strong midfield.

"That midfield today was stronger than my midfielder."

United had great chance of their own late in the first half, when Romelu Lukaku was denied by an excellent save from Simon Mignolet but rarely ventured in the final third of the pitch in the second half.

The result means United have scored just once in six away games against Liverpool, Arsenal , Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City under Mourinho, but they remain unbeaten this season and have only conceded twice in eight games.

Mourinho's approach was defended by former United captain Gary Neville, who suggested Liverpool did not play with the usual abandon going forward.

"Liverpool weren't the Liverpool in terms of going for it," said Neville said after the game on Sky Sports.

"I think Jose Mourinho would have expected Jurgen Klopp to go for it, and then a counter-attack might have appeared.

"But Jurgen Klopp was measured, he didn't want to lose either. The headline will be Jose didn't want to lose, but Jurgen Klopp made decisions in that game that told us that he didn't want to lose either."