The German manager took over from the Northern Irishman, who was fired at Anfield in October 2015
Jurgen Klopp has said that Brendan Rodgers, his predecessor at Liverpool, was not sacked because he lost his ability to manage.
Rodgers was in charge at Liverpool for three and a half years before he lost his job in October 2015, and was replaced by Klopp.
Rodgers will return to Anfield on Saturday for the first time since he was sacked, taking his third-place Leicester City side into a high-profile Premier League clash against table-topping Liverpool.
Klopp has said that Rodgers may have been the victim of high expectations at Anfield after nearly leading Liverpool to the Premier League title in 2013-14, falling two points short of Manchester City.
“For the public, when a manager gets the sack, they think he lost his football brain or something. That is not how it happened,” Klopp said.
“Whatever it was I do not know, but it was not his quality as a coach. As easy as that.
“Expectations, relationships, whatever, if that doesn’t work anymore, the club has to make a decision. That will happen one day and the club will make a decision.”
Klopp said that he gained a newfound respect for Rodgers when he saw his Dortmund side battered by a Rodgers-coached Liverpool team.
“We played them (in August 2014) with Dortmund. We were not in the best shape that day and we lost 4-0,” Klopp said.
‘They played really well that day and I really respected him as a manager.”
Rodgers would go on to manage Celtic after leaving Liverpool, helping the Scottish giants to two straight trebles, with the club clinching a third straight treble last season after the Northern Irishman left mid-season to take over Leicester.
Klopp, meanwhile, has led Liverpool to back-to-back Champions League finals, winning the European title last season.
In a twist of fate, the German also moved into the house Rodgers owns in Liverpool, with Klopp joking that he had no problem with Rodgers “since all the issues when we moved into his house are sorted.”
Klopp also joked that Rodgers had no need to return to coaching in the Premier League because ”we pay our rent for him, so I’m not sure he has to work but he still does! You’re welcome!”
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