Jose Mourinho has advised Jurgen Klopp to be ‘honest’ with his Liverpool players if they are to pip Manchester City to the Premier League title.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea manager believes the German should deliver it straight to his under-performing squad, who have drawn five of their last seven matches in all competitions.
Their latest 0-0 draw with Everton saw them slip off their perch at the top of the Premier League, with Pep Guardiola’s defending champions taking a slender one-point lead.
Mourinho believes the title race is still wide ‘open’ and offered some advice to Klopp on how to handle this difficult situation.
‘It’s never easy and of course the personality of the manager is very important,’ he told BeIN Sports.
“Jurgen, I don’t know him personally well enough like I do some other managers, but it looks from the outside that he’s a positive person – happy guy that has some contacts with the players, he’s very tactile. He’s very supportive.”
“I think he’s going to make them believe what we also believe: that’s it’s open. It’s not closed. City is not champions: it’s open.”
“He’s trying to prepare them and I think the best way to prepare sometimes is to be really honest. To be honest.”
“It’s not to try sometimes to sell dreams. To be honest is to say we’re not in our best moment. They are not in their best moment.”
“Salah would score this opportunities, a rebound would go in their favour. I think the best way is to be honest. By being honest maybe they can think about, I don’t say their bad qualities, but the little things that aren’t going so well and try to focus on that and go for it.”
Mourinho is intrigued by how the season will pan out and thinks this particular Premier League season is ‘very interesting’.
“Man City has to play against rival Manchester United at Old Trafford,” he added. “Bournemouth was the proof that an opponent who is mid-table and is without any kind of pressure to be relegated can be a difficult opponent.”
“In the English football world there is this pride of nobody gives a point to anybody. You have to earn it, that’s the mentality of English football.”
“Of course it’s open and this is a good championship. Two teams fighting for the title.”
Four teams fighting for two positions in the top four, a group of teams fighting for not to be the third team relegated. ‘The championship is very interesting.’
