Red Bull Chief Hails Jurgen Klopp for Reinventing Average Liverpool Duo Ahead of UCL Clash

Former RB Leipzig and Schalke manager Ralf Rangnick has talked up the job Jurgen Klopp has done at Liverpool, citing the transformation in previously 'average' players like Jordan Henderson and James Milner as the perfect example of his work.

Rangnick, who is now serving as sporting director for the Red Bull Group footballing family, including Red Bull Salzburg, who the Reds are due to face in the Champions League next week, was lavish in his praise of Klopp, if somewhat derisory towards the English duo in the process. 

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Speaking to German publication Frankfurter Allgemein, as relayed by Sport Witness, Rangnick explained: “If you look at Jordan Henderson or James Milner before Klopp they were absolutely average.

“The fact that they have now become such players is entirely up to their manager."

But it is not just in Jordan and James that the 61-year-old has seen the influence of Klopp, with the newfound pressing abilities of the club's infamous front three acting as further evidence to his exploits.

"Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were, until three or four years ago, everything other than typical pressing strikers," he said. 

“They just wanted to have the ball and play with it. The fact that they have grown together at Liverpool is all down to Jürgen Klopp."

After winning last season's Champions League - their sixth such crown - and finishing with a record points total in second in the Premier League, Liverpool have once again made an imposing start to the campaign this time around, at least domestically. 

In contrast, their continental start has been a bit more jittery, with an away loss to Napoli currently blotting the record books, and rectifying that opening defeat by knocking the Austrian champions of their perch will be at the centre of Klopp's preparation for the clash next week.


Source : 90min