Jose Mourinho was already on his feet and heading for the exit by the time he responded to the last question of the day.
So do Jurgen Klopp’s touchline theatrics bother him? Or even remind him of himself as a younger man?
‘I’m on the touchline to try to coach,’ replied the Manchester United manager, stopping briefly to answer the question. ‘I’m not on the touchline to …’ As his words trailed off, Mourinho’s hands took over, flapping in the air.
The message was clear. No, he is definitely not a fan of Klopp’s histrionics. But, then again, the Liverpool manager knows that already.
Tonight’s showdown at Anfield between is actually their second meeting in the Premier League, Klopp’s first league win in England having come at Mourinho’s expense as the Special One headed for the sack at Chelsea a year ago.
October 31, 2015. Liverpool fell behind at Stamford Bridge but recovered to win 3-1. Mourinho and his staff were less than impressed by Klopp’s touchline antics that day, and in particular by what they felt was his unreasonable badgering of fourth official Lee Mason.
Mourinho appeared to question what would have happened if he had behaved in the same way, even though that might seem rich coming from someone with more than a little experience of the dark arts.
His assistant Jose Morais took matters into his own hands and confronted Klopp before Mason stepped in. ‘We don’t press referees, we behave on the touchline, so that is a point we are very comfortable with,’ said Mourinho.
It might explain why his response was a little tepid when asked what he thought of the progress of a coach whose Borussia Dortmund team also knocked his Real Madrid out of the Champions League semi-final in 2013. ‘I have not much to say,’ came the reply.
At times, it has not been an easy return to management for Mourinho since taking over at Old Trafford in the summer. All the talk in English football has been of the new high-pressing philosophy of rivals such as Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino.
The Portuguese coach could be forgiven for feeling a little out of fashion. Mourinho, though, is sticking to the principles that have won him three Premier Leagues titles and two European Cups.
He said: ‘When they have the ball you have to try to stop them scoring, and the best way to do that is to defend with 11 men.
‘When you have the ball you want to score, you want to be dominant, you want the ball and this is what we are doing. We are playing the way we are playing, and we have to improve in many things. But we have a certain style of play and we are not going to change that.’
Still, Mourinho sees room for improvement if he is to continue Louis van Gaal’s impressive record for United against Liverpool.
Van Gaal orchestrated four straight league wins over Liverpool, including a rather fortunate 1-0 victory at Anfield in January when Wayne Rooney capitalised on a rare chance 12 minutes from time.
‘Liverpool had 14 shots on target and United had one, and the result was 0-1,’ Mourinho recalled. ‘I don’t think that is going to happen again.’
After one win in his last four Premier League games, Mourinho knows the importance of this fixture transcends traditional rivalry. After all, United have an opportunity to close the gap on leaders Manchester City to three points.
Beyond that, he would dearly like a victory over Klopp. For someone who says he doesn’t do theatrics, it promises to be a fascinating show.
Daily Mail