Jurgen Klopp is getting no sympathy from Sean Dyche ahead of Monday’s Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton.
Dyche’s second game in charge of Everton sees him take the struggling Toffees across Stanley Park to Anfield.
Everton beat Premier League leaders Arsenal at Goodison Park in Dyche’s first match – their first competitive win since October 22 – but remain in the relegation zone.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have won just one of their last seven games in all competitions and went down 3-0 to Everton’s relegation rivals Wolves last time out.
Asked if he sympathised with Klopp, Dyche gave a blunt response.
“My focus is on Everton, that’s what I’ve been brought here to do – make sure we’re right without focusing on anyone else. That’s absolutely my focus,” he said at a press conference.
“There’s no sympathy in football. I can empathise. You have an understanding of others. He certainly doesn’t want or need my sympathy – trust me.
“Someone who’s as experienced as him and what he’s done in the game. He doesn’t need sympathy from anyone.
“As a manager you can empathise, understand each other’s roles. No matter what level you’re at, you can understand, because it’s a very difficult job.
“There’s an understanding, a shared feeling. I’ve been through it myself when things aren’t always going as you’d wish. But he doesn’t need my sympathy.”
Dyche and Klopp have had some fiery exchanges down the years. Indeed, the pair had a heated discussion at half-time during Burnley’s 1-0 win at Anfield in the 2020-21 season, which ended Liverpool’s 68-game unbeaten run.
Reflecting on that incident, Dyche quipped: “He felt my coat wasn’t good, like [Aston Villa midfielder] John McGinn did, and he mentioned it.
“I said, ‘well, you’re not the first to get there, John already did’, so that cleared that one up.”
Switching tact, he added: “I think fans don’t mind that, they want to see two managers standing up for their teams, and then after that, it’s done, end of. It used to be a much more regular occurrence in football, but maybe it’s not now. It meant nothing. It was nothing more than both of us standing up for our clubs.”
Liverpool have only lost one of their last 22 home derbies, when Carlo Ancelotti masterminded a 2-0 victory for Everton in February 2021.
Just two of the 22 managers to have taken charge of Everton in a league Merseyside derby have won their first meeting with Liverpool – Joe Royle in November 1994 and Dick Molyneux in October 1894.
Dyche will be the 10th manager whose first such game is away from home, with none of the previous nine winning, but he is relishing the opportunity.
“I’m looking forward to it because of the size of it – the city, the mentality of the two clubs,” he said. “I grew up in the 70s and 80s, the historical games, and also I don’t imagine it happens now, but finals when the two fans were combined.
“I was telling my lad about that the other day. It’s changed a bit now, the way life is. I’m certainly looking forward to taking on the next challenge against them.”
Dyche might well have to cope without Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Anfield, with the striker described as “touch and go” to feature in the match due to a hamstring injury.
