He’s at the top, if not the best: James Milner ranks manager Jurgen Klopp

Heaping praise on Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, club’s versatile player James Milner has said that the German is at the top of the managers’ list if not the best.

“He’s right up there at the top, if not the best. His training sessions are different to anything I’ve ever done before,” Milner told BBC Radio 5 Live as quoted by Liverpool FC’s official website.

Advertisement

“You never, ever do a session (on autopilot), whether it’s a passing drill or a shooting drill – everything is reacting to the next situation. If we do a shooting drill there’s three or four balls going on at the same time; ‘keepers are having nightmares going for one shot then straight for the next one.

“You’re clipping a ball to someone else and as you’re doing that another ball is on its way to you to shoot. The training is completely different to anything I’ve seen. The whole thing around it is reacting to the next situation and staying in the game,” he added.

Liverpool currently have a 25 point lead at the top in the Premier League standings with 9 matches still to be played. This in effect means that a couple of more wins would seal the title for them. Last Year, the Reds had won the Champions League. Undoubtedly, manager Klopp has been one of the key factors in Liverpool’s dominance.

Milner thinks that the presence of mind and awareness of the game make Klopp a “great coach”.

“He’s very good at always thinking about what might affect a game. He’s very aware of what’s going on around it and always tries to nip anything in the bud that might affect the team’s performance or mentality going into the game. That’s one of the strengths he definitely has in terms of preparing that side.

“Obviously he’s a great coach in how he prepares us for every game as well, but in terms of that side he’s always very aware of what could stop you putting in your best performance and going into the game fully fresh mentally,” said Milner.