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The 226th Merseyside derby will be Jurgen Klopp's first experience of the fierce rivalry that exists between Liverpool and Everton.

The Reds boss took time out from his preparations for Wednesday night's Premier League clash at Anfield to sit down at Melwood with two men who went up against each other in this fixture some three decades ago.

Kevin Ratcliffe is the most successful captain in Everton's history who led them to the FA Cup, European Cup Winners Cup and two league titles during 15 years of loyal service.

Former Liverpool defender Jim Beglin was a key part of Kenny Dalglish's historic Double winning side of 1985/86 as the Reds followed up clinching the title by beating Everton in the first all-Merseyside FA Cup final at Wembley.

They are now respected pundits and the ECHO's Liverpool FC reporter James Pearce went along with them to meet Klopp.

The German coach was keen to immerse himself in the history of the fixture, as well as sharing some of his own derby tales from his time at Borussia Dortmund.

This is the first half of their conversation:

JP: Jurgen, how much are you looking forward to your first Merseyside derby?

JK: I am really happy about this. In our really busy schedule it's nice for me to have a game where I don't have to think about finding the right words.

KR: Motivation?

JK: Yes, it's clear. This morning when we were in the dressing room and we spoke a little about Sunday's game at Bournemouth I don't think anyone was really listening!

They are thinking about Everton. I'm okay with that. That's really cool. It's very exciting. It's important too.

Derbies are always difficult to play because you have to handle the pressure. There's no advantage or disadvantage for either side.

For me, I like these special games. I've been a manager since 2001. That's 15 years and each game is important. But with special games like this it's different from three or four days before it.

You can read all our Jurgen Klopp stories in one place here

KR: We didn't really have team meetings with Howard (Kendall). He would only name the team when we were on the bus going to the ground. He would just go: 'You're No 4, you're No 6, you're No 8....' That was it.

JB: Kenny (Dalglish) was the same. He always picked the team an hour and a quarter before kick-off. We would all sit down and he would ask: 'Are you fit?' Then he'd bang the team out. Joe Fagan would always name his team the day before. I wish he hadn't. When he told me I'd be making my debut in 1984, I didn't sleep that night.

JK: This was a different time. A lot of things have changed since then. When I started analysing games in 2001 I had a DVD recorder.

I'd be at home watching the games just on a normal TV, watching what I could and trying to figure out what we would be facing a few weeks later. The problem was in the team meetings I'd always have to keep going back and forwards with the footage, trying to get to the right part. It was so boring for me trying to reach the exact moment. I was like 'oh my God, what am I doing here?'

But that's how it all started. Now we have two pre-match meetings, two post-match, we have analysts and analysing games is a big thing. That's the biggest difference next to the physical things. When you guys played could teams make substitutions?

KR: We went from having one sub to two subs out of three on the bench. Then it was three out of five and now obviously it's three out of seven. I was manager at Chester and it absolutely killed us when it went from three to five to seven subs because we had to pay bonuses to those on the bench.

JK: Now they are thinking about having nine subs but we don't have the space for it! The idea is they want to bring younger players closer to the first team. But the problem is that if they are sitting on the bench they can't play so it makes no sense. It's better for them to play for under-21s than sit on the bench.

JP: Jurgen, you're no stranger to derbies following your time in Germany. What were those games between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke like to be involved in?

JK: Firstly at Mainz, when we went up, nobody really thought of us as being in a derby because we had no real history. We were close to (Eintracht) Frankfurt for example but they thought 'nice to meet you, but next year you'll be in the second league again'. With Dortmund it was pretty different.

JB: The Ruhr derby.....

JK: Absolutely, it's outstanding. In my first season there in 2008, on our fourth matchday we played against Schalke. Our first three games were against Leverkusen, Bayern and Cottbus but nobody spoke about those games.

Leverkusen, really difficult, good side, we could have lost 6-0 and nobody would have been interested.

With no success at the club, the only game in the year everyone was really interested in was the derby. In Dortmund they say the derby is more important than the championship. You can feel it around the game. My first derby there didn't start so well.... (laughing).

JP: You were 3-0 down....

JK: I know!

KR: That's a bad day.

JK: No wait, we came back! (laughing). Schalke should have scored another goal. They had one of the biggest opportunities I've ever seen in my life early in the second half.

Kevin Kuranyi, it was 10cm, maybe 15cm from the goal. He missed the ball! It could have been 4-0! In that moment I really thought about my wife Ulla. I thought: 'I hope she knows where the suitcases still are because we might need to pack!' (laughing).

It would have changed everything if they had made it 4-0. After that we came back.

Neven Subotic's header 3-1. Alex Frei, a famous striker in Dortmund, made it 3-2. After a long injury, I only had him on the bench in case I could give him five minutes but I had to bring him on at half-time. He scored an unbelievable goal from 25 yards.

Then we got a penalty in the last minute to draw the game 3-3. It felt better than winning to be honest. It was the start of something. It was an important moment in the whole Dortmund story. It was easy to enjoy.

JP: With so much pressure attached to Merseyside derby games, did you enjoy playing in them back in the 80s?

KR: No, I didn't.

JB: I was the same.

KR: Times have changed. I was brought up as an Everton supporter. When Liverpool played Everton in our time I think it meant a lot more. A lot of lads were from the vicinity and everyone knew all about the derby. I actually think it meant more to the players back then. I think some of them treat it as just another game these days. I always remember Sylvain Distin saying that a few years back.

JK: I don't think so. You're right that the biggest change is that there used to be more local players playing in the fixture. They knew naturally from the first minute of their lives about the importance of the derby. But now the public view is so big in this moment – that's where the pressure comes from. All my players know about the derby because they hear so much about it. They know the importance of this game.

KR: Do you know the last time I was here at Melwood? It was 1978 when I played for Everton's A team, which was the under-17s/under-18s. The A team and maybe the B team played here. The reserves would then play at 2pm at either Goodison or Anfield and then the first teams would be playing the derby after.

JK: All in one day!?

KR: Yeah. You were waiting for the reserves result to come through at half-time. We already knew how the A and B teams had got on.

The other question was: how many got booked? How many got sent off? It was more feisty then. You never saw too much of the ball in the first 20 to 30 minutes. If you were a midfield player you would have a sore neck.

JB: They were real battles and then every so often a bit of football would break out.

KR: The team that settled first more often than not came out the winners.

JB: I remember playing in a mini derby before I played in the first team. We were playing at Anfield. They had a little striker called Warren Aspinall. Well, he kicked me and I completely lost it.

I was fired up. I was told 'you have got to match everything they do'. The game was going on while I was just chasing after him! I booted him and he had to go off. That was how it was back then. You couldn't show any weakness. You had to stand up.

I played in an FA Cup semi-final against Man United at Goodison in 1985 before I played in a Merseyside derby. Now that was really fierce. The ball ran out of play and as a I bent down to pick it up all these United fans spat in my face.

My first derby against Everton was after the Blues had won the league in '85. It was the last game of the season and we were about to play in the European Cup final.

KR: You battered us. But we won 1-0. Andy Gray was diving across people to stop them shooting and getting it in the chest. It was a ridiculous game.

JB: Because of the circumstances with nothing riding on it that derby was like nothing in comparison to what followed. When I played in the derby early on in the 85/86 season that was different. That one really mattered. I really felt it. There was much more at stake. We went 3-0 up and then you battered us and we hung on for 3-2.

KR: I remember Rushie bent down pretending to tie his lace, next minute he's been played through. I said to Ian Marshall: 'You were supposed to be keeping an eye on him!'.

JK: Did the derby change at all after 1989?

KR: Not on the field. The cup final that year after Hillsborough, it was a game we couldn't win. Everything on the day was all about Liverpool. We were just another team. That's how I felt as a player playing for the other side. I don't think it mattered who Liverpool would have played that day, they would have won.

JK: Since I've been here I get the feeling that the rivalry was more aggressive between Dortmund and Schalke. For example, you wouldn't work for Dortmund if you were a Schalke fan. No chance.

If you say 'okay, I'm good at this and this, can I work here?' They'd say: 'what club?' You say Schalke they say: 'thank-you, now go'.

Dortmund to Schalke is 25km. In Dortmund itself, there aren't many Schalke fans but if you go 10km out there are a lot. As Dortmund manager, I lived in a street and my two neighbours were Schalke fans. They showed it every day, flying flags!

If we lost to them the next day I'd see them and they'd be shouting: 'Morning!' When we won, they didn't say hello.

Here I feel it's a little bit different. All the Evertonians I've met until now have been pretty friendly.

KR: You have Blues and Reds living in the same house in this city. You get Evertonians who are brought up in Liverpool families and vice versa.

JB: My brother is an Evertonian. We've always had that rivalry going on.

JK: I've met some Evertonians in the street and they've been friendly. I've had taxi drivers who have been Everton fans. They've been really nice.

JB: Wait and see what they're like if you beat them on Wednesday night!

JK: (Laughter). At the beginning I thought 'okay, maybe they're happy I'm here because they think that means Liverpool won't have any success for the next 20 years!'