Jurgen Klopp believes Jose Mourinho is still an "outstanding manager", despite being sacked by Manchester United.
Mourinho was sacked by United on Tuesday and Sky Sports News understands Michael Carrick will be appointed interim manager until a new temporary boss is appointed within the next 48 hours.
The Portuguese manager's future had been the subject of intense scrutiny - and the club's worst start to a season in 28 years was confirmed with defeat at Liverpool on Sunday.
Klopp was the man who masterminded Liverpool's convincing 3-1 victory over their age-old rivals but he is not taking any pleasure in Mourinho's dismissal, and says his past achievements still command respect.
"He is a very competitive guy, very ambitious," Klopp said. "He has all my respect, [he has been] unbelievably successful.
"I can imagine the last few months especially were not a joy for anybody, especially him. It is not nice to face all these questions every day. That is a problem.
"But nobody can take away all the things he has won. Nothing can take that away. I hope, personally, he has that in his mind when he leaves and not a few other things that happened in the last few months.
"He is an outstanding manager."