Klopp: “I don’t mind Guardiola disappearing or taking 4 years of vacation!”

Liverpool FC Manager Jurgen Klopp has expressed joking he wishes he had taken a vacation during the last four years!” Klopp, adding that he would have preferred if Guardiola had resigned as City coach or if he had left the team, which had won the Premier League title 4 times in the last five years. “I wish he had taken a vacation during the last four years!” Klopp joked, adding that he would have preferred if Guardiola had resigned as City coach or if he had left the team, which had won the Premier League title 4 times in the last five years. The Liverpool and Manchester City teams had participated in an epic race for the English Premier League title in recent years, during which the Reds managed to grab the title once, while City more than once outperformed the Reds in the race for the title by only one point.
It is noteworthy that Guardiola has entered the final year of his contract with Manchester City, who travels to Anfield on Sunday, while serious discussions about the extension have not yet begun. Klopp admitted, in an interview with the British Daily Mail, that “the best coach in the world,” meaning Guardiola, forced Liverpool to raise his level of player, noting, laughingly, that he did not mind the disappearance of the Spanish coach.
Klopp said he believed the City coach would end up staying at the Etihad Stadium. The German coach preferred that Guardiola take a 4-year vacation, and said that he is 100% serious. “Actually, my favorite solution would have been for him to have taken leave in the past four years!” “I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but he’s the best coach in the world and he proves it all the time and every day. It’s really special what they do and I respect that.”
“I’m not going to miss the competition between us! He told me when we’re not in charge of any club anymore, we’ll sit down together and have a glass of wine, though I don’t like it very much,” he said. “We can do it but if you (still) I work and he is away from City, I will visit him and we can achieve this.. no problem with that.”
It is noteworthy that Liverpool have won four major titles since Klopp’s arrival in 2015, but his score would have been much greater if City had not clinched 4 titles in the Premier League in 5 seasons under the leadership of Guardiola.
Unlike other rivalries between previous great coaches, including Alex Ferguson’s rivalry against Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho’s rivalry against Rafa Benitez, Klopp and Guardiola have always shown good respect for each other.
“I’m a happy person and I don’t have a problem with the situation,” Klopp said, adding that Federer and Nadal competed at the highest level and are friends, while “Pep and I are not best friends because we don’t know each other… but I respect him a lot, and I know he respects what we do.” You don’t need to be disrespectful just because you two are competitors.”
“About the matches, I would like to say that we had a good relationship without meeting. During the matches, we were rivals but so far we managed to get rid of any bad things. I can always admit the brilliance when I saw him, and that is the case with him and with City.”
In this regard, Klopp said that the fans can make an impact again on Sunday, but only if the players do their part. It was very intense matches against City and we have to make sure it’s the same again.”
It is noteworthy that City’s only win at Anfield since 2003, when they won 4-1, came in 2021 when the fans were not allowed to be in the stadiums.