I could have coached Manchester United - Klopp

Jurgen Klopp has revealed he was once approached to
become Manchester United's new manager but did not want
to leave Borussia Dortmund.

The 48-year-old will coach Liverpool against their fierce
rivals for the first time on Sunday after replacing Brendan
Rodgers at the helm in October.

Klopp received multiple offers after leaving Germany but
was also in demand while still in charge at Dortmund, and
admitted that United were one of the clubs who had
expressed an interest "in April" - likely of 2013, when Sir Alex
Ferguson was due to retire.

“We spoke," he told reporters. "We spoke not a lot but, for
me, it was a lot. It was a big honour, the whole talk, to be
honest.

"There was a time [when United were interested] but I could
not leave Dortmund. That is it. You are in April and you are
in the middle of the planning for next season.

"You have this player and this player and this player who is
coming in but then you are not there any more? That
doesn’t work. Not in my life anyway.

“I did not hear about a real offer but, if there was, I could not
have done it. I first had to finish the job with Dortmund and
then think about other things.

"Maybe that is not the smart way but that is my way. Of
course I was loyal to Dortmund. It was the same at Mainz.”

Klopp admitted he sympathises with the scrutiny being
placed on his ex-Bayern Munich counterpart Louis van Gaal
amid United's run of one win in eight matches.

“The pressure [Van Gaal is under] has an effect on your
whole life but, in my case, not on how I handle my team or
anything like this," he stated.

"It is always the case if things don’t run the way you want –
you have to think about whether to change things or not to
change. Both decisions are really important.

"Life is not that nice. I know the whole world is watching
football managers and thinking: ‘They are really well paid’,
so no one cares about a manager’s feelings.

“I didn’t watch too much of these things at United but I
heard about it. I know Louis is not too happy with the media
at the moment but I think in life it is important sometimes to
switch and think about how it would be on the other side.

"You would have all this money but also all this pressure so
it is not nice. If you want to change things in football it is
not okay that you think: ‘Bad, bad, bad – go.’

"That is not a change. If that was the solution I think Man
United would have done it. But it is not a solution so they
have to carry on. It is not our problem, but it is a manager’s
problem. It’s not the case that the sun is shining every day
as a football manager.

"It’s like with you [the media] with me when I came here.

First it’s ‘yeah!’ Then it’s ‘erm’, then it might be ‘ooh’, so
then I am alone on the side and we might have the same
situation here."