Jason McAteer feels Jurgen Klopp has fostered an environment which sees fringe players desperate to give their all for Liverpool, in contrast to the atmosphere at Manchester United, which he thinks could be pushing players towards the exit door.
Klopp made a host of changes to his Liverpool side that played League One outfit MK Dons in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, but witnessed the Reds run out comfortable 2-0 winners.
Manchester United by contrast made hard work of progressing to the next round as another League One side, Rochdale, drew 1-1 at Old Trafford and only missed out on causing a big upset by losing in a penalty shootout.
McAteer thinks that Klopp has a group hungry to contribute and try and take their chance, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has players who are looking to get out of the club as they cannot get into a struggling team, and the Norwegian will not change things.
Assessing Liverpool and Manchester United post match on LFC TV, McAteer said: "When a team's winning, momentum is going and confidence is high, you can feel part of that as an [Adam] Lallana or an [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain, Xherdan Shaqiri.
"I think Klopp's massive on that, about it being a squad, that has to be utilised so they will all be used at a certain time.
"When you're winning it's easy to accept as a player not in the team and think 'I'm going to play tonight and give it everything, and try to grasp my opportunity, but I can understand why he would pick the team that beat Chelsea at the weekend and I don't get back in this weekend'.
"But when you're at Man United and it's not going well, everything is doom and gloom and he's still not changing it, you go into the game in that League Cup thinking 'you know what, that first team were rubbish at the weekend and I'm now playing Rochdale, he's probably going to pick the same team at the weekend, am I going to roll my sleeves up here and give it everything or am I going to get on the phone to my agent when I get in tonight and go you've got to get me out of here'."
McAteer is of the view that Manchester United can learn about their players as they battle poor form though.
"I also think as well you learn a lot about your club and your players in adversity and that club's got a lot of it at the minute.
"I don't see the big players, the big attitudes rolling their sleeves up and putting the performances in."
Liverpool, who sit top of the Premier League after winning all six of their games so far, are next in action at Sheffield United, while Solskjaer's side entertain Arsenal on Monday night.
