Liverpool vs Man Utd: Who cares about respect? Let the boys have fun

Liverpool were pictured playing basketball during training before their game against Manchester United and it kicked off, but why should we care?

Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum were snapped shooting hoops instead of shooting goals and things got a little spicy on social media. The word respect was thrown around a lot, but that doesn’t actually matter.

This is the thing though, who cares about respect? This was clearly an exercise designed to let the players have a little fun and a little muck about. These men are not robots and some time to mess about is good for everyone.

If it brings the players together and creates a little bonding session atmosphere, who really cares that much? This isn’t about respecting Utd, or any opponent, it’s about resetting your mind and having a bit of a laugh.

More from Rush The Kop

• Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home
• Liverpool making late comebacks all the rage once again
• Wolves tilt gives Klopp opportunity to tinker with lineup following international duty
• Players to watch in the matchup with Wolves
• Predicting Liverpool’s Next Five Premier League Fixtures

You can be sure that Jurgen Klopp and his coaches will have had the team out before that, or after that, and drilled into them the same ethos and way of playing that’s made the side so successful this season and last.

Everyone would have been pulling their weight, everyone would have been desperate to improve and everyone is fighting for a place in the side and that’s all that counts at the end of the day.

Let’s not forget, either, this is Manchester United we’re talking about.

If there is any club in the world to show maximum disrespect to, it has to be these guys.

Deep down every single Liverpool fan would have loved watching this slide after Sir Alex Ferguson, and would have loved former players like Rio Ferdinand to be proven so wrong this season.

I hope Liverpool go out and sink five past them this weekend and celebrate every one with a fake basketball shot. That would be poetry in motion.