Jurgen Klopp believes Jose Mourinho remains an “outstanding manager” and saluted the titles he’s won in football following his sacking as Manchester United boss.
The Portuguese paid for United’s woeful start to the 2018-19 campaign, with the club releasing a statement on Tuesday morning to confirm that he had left.
Indeed, United are currently sixth in the Premier League table, 19 points behind leaders Liverpool, and have their worst points tally in England’s top flight since 1990-91. And Klopp, who guided his side to a 3-1 win over United in what was Mourinho’s final game in charge, was sympathetic when asked for his reaction to the news.
“He’s a very competitive guy, very ambitious, unbelievably successful and I can imagine the last few months were not a joy, especially for him,” he told reporters.
“Nobody can take away all the things he won. He’s an outstanding manager.”
Mourinho has won three Premier League titles across two spells with Chelsea, while he claimed the Europa League and Carabao Cup in his first season at United, finishing runners-up to Manchester City in the league in 2017-18.
That led to United offering a new deal in January that was due to tie him down at Old Trafford until 2020.