Ahead of the reignition of rivalry between 20 times Premier League Champions and their Merseyside counterpart Liverpool, managers of the two historical English clubs have issued a joint statement that will caution fans chants when the two sides faceoff at Anfield on Sunday.
The next Premier League fixture between Erik Ten Hag's side and Jurgen Klopp's men is anticipated to be an ambience and electric atmosphere due to the historical rivalry between the two most successful English clubs. Both managers have made a joint statement calling on fans to 'keep the passion but lose the poison' when the two teams step out to the pitch on at Anfield on Sunday.
In a joint statement on both clubs’ official websites, Klopp said: "We do want the noise, we do want the occasion to be partisan and we do want the atmosphere to be electric."
"What we do not want is anything that goes beyond this and this applies especially to the kind of chants that have no place in football. If we can keep the passion and lose the poison it will be so much better for everyone."
Manchester United's manager Erik Ten Hag reminded passionate fans of both clubs the negative impacts of using the historical tragedies associated with the two clubs as banter chants and calls for it to stop.
"It is unacceptable to use the loss of life – in relation to any tragedy – to score points, and it is time for it to stop."
"Those responsible tarnish not only the reputation of our clubs but also, importantly, the reputation of themselves, the fans, and our great cities," Erik Ten Hag stated.
Erik Ten Hag is taking his first trip to Anfield as Man United's manager, but he has visited there while he was manager at FC Ajax for UEFA Champions League games, the 53 year old has insisted his players will handled the hosile atmosphere around the Anfield stadium while to look to do the double over Man United's Arch rival and also win their first game at the Merseysiders home turf since 2016.
‘l"I’m looking forward to it, the ambience, the atmosphere," said Ten Hag at his pre-match press conference. "It will be great, it will be hostile against us, but we like that."
"I know these players, my squad, my team, will be prepared to go there and fight and to go there with confidence."
"We know it’s going to be difficult, we know we will have to suffer and we will have to sacrifice to get a good result."
"I think our team, our mentality in general is very good. I think we also have many leaders who set the mentality, who set the standards, who control the standards, who correct if necessary," Erik Ten Hag stated.
"I think we are happy with this process but it can always be better. That has to be the approach," he added.
The Merseysiders are struggling to find their feet this season under Jurgen Klopp, they are currently outside of the top four and could be eliminated from the Champions League which is the last competition they are in this season, although they have made some progress in their last five games recording back to back wins and five cleansheets, it led to Erik Ten Hag being quizzed about his 'end of an era' comments during his first interview as a Man United's manager.
The 53 year old was however reluctant to expansiate on the phrase but explained why Liverpool are struggling this campaign.
"We are still in the season now. It’s always a pattern, never does it always go so consistently."
"It’s fluid and I am sure Liverpool have really good management, a really good playing philosophy and a really good strategy. We are aware of that but we are not talking about other clubs."
"We are talking about us and I think we are in a good direction and with our philosophy, strategy and culture, we have to keep making progress. It’s all about that," he explained.
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