Jurgen Klopp has hailed Jose Mourinho as an ‘outstanding manager’ following his sacking by Manchester United.
The Portuguese paid the price for a disastrous start to the season culminating in a 3-1 defeat at Anfield last weekend as he was dismissed by Ed Woodward on Tuesday morning.
Klopp, whose team moved 19 points ahead of their arch-rivals with victory on Sunday, expressed sympathy for his former rival when asked about his departure from Old Trafford.
And he rejected suggestions that the former Porto and Chelsea boss had lost any of his competitive edge during his time at United.
“When I met him, he never changed. He’s a very competitive guy, very ambitious. He has all my respect,” he said.
“He was unbelievably successful and I can imagine the last few months were not a joy for anybody, especially not for him - it’s not nice if you have to face these questions every day.
“But, apart from that, nobody can take away all the things he won. I wish him personally that he has that in his mind when he leaves and not a few other things that happened in the last few months.
“He is an outstanding manager and about all the rest I have no idea, you have to ask other people. The best to ask would be him, the only person who can really say what’s happened.”
