Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described Jurgen Klopp‘s Liverpool as the best the club has “ever had” and singled out Roberto Firmino as the player who caused him the “most problems” as a manager.
The former Man United boss suffered a crushing 5-0 home defeat to the Reds during his time at Old Trafford in what was one of the most dominant displays the fixture has ever seen.
Solskjaer failed to win any of his seven Premier League meetings with Liverpool as a manager, with his sole victory coming in the FA Cup fourth-round tie back in January 2021.
Speaking to The Athletic, the ex-striker was full of praise for the Liverpool side he came up against while in the Man United hot seat and even suggested that Klopp had created a better version of the all-conquering 1980s team.
“Those City and Liverpool teams were the best that their clubs, with fantastic managers, have ever had,” said Solskjaer.
“I know that’s a bold statement because Liverpool were so good in the ’80s, but they were a fantastic side under Jurgen Klopp.”
Liverpool’s 5-0 win at the home of their bitter rivals in October 2021 was a humiliating experience for Solskjaer and his players, with the manager relieved from his duties at Old Trafford less than a month later.
The significance of that result was not lost on the Norweigan, who added that Roberto Firmino was the player who caused him the “most problems” during his managerial career.
“In my last season, we played Liverpool at home. I felt the players were ready for it, just like I’d felt they were ready when we’d gone to City and won,” he continued.
“We could have sat back and countered but my decision was to go for it. We lost 5-0. It was 50/50, more or less, in possession and chances at half-time, yet we were 4-0 down.
“I made the wrong decision and that was my lowest point as United manager by a mile. Roberto Firmino was probably the opposition player who caused me the most problems as a manager.”
It is not the first time Firmino has received plaudits from a rival club, with Man City‘s Nathan Ake naming the Brazilian as the “most difficult” forward he has come up against earlier this year.
Firmino bid an emotional farewell to Anfield in May after eight glorious years on Merseyside in which he lifted every major trophy available to him.
