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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has hailed Sir Alex Ferguson and termed the ex-Manchester United manager as a role model. Klopp even went on to compare ex-Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard with Ferguson, calling him ‘only a younger version’ of the Scot.
The German was appointed as Liverpool’s manager in October after the sacking of Brendan Rodgers. The Merseyside club has played 11 matches under Klopp in all competitions and only faced defeat once. The five-time European champions thrashed Manchester City 1-4 in the Premier League and Southampton 1-6 in the Capital One cup quarterfinal recently, with both the big wins coming away from home.
The League Managers Association awarded Klopp ‘Performance of the Week award’ for the second week running. Sir Alex is also part of the association and when the ex-Dortmund manager was asked about SAF, he was full of praise for the United legend.
“He [Ferguson] said congratulations and the rest is private,” said Klopp.
“But I've had the huge honour of meeting him a few times and of course he is a role model for every manager in football.
“It was a big pleasure because he's a funny person and something like a book of history in football so it was good to spend some time with him.”
Klopp terms Gerrard as younger version of SAF
The 48-year-old talked about Steven Gerrard and compared him to SAF. Currently in contract with MLS club LA Galaxy, Gerrard returned to train at Liverpool’s Melwood training facility after the end of MLS season. Now that Klopp has trained the club’s ex-captain for a week, he had some wise words to say about the 35-year-old.
“He [Gerrard] has the same thing as Alex, only a younger version. It's good to have him here,” Klopp added.
“It's very important to us because we can show that if you behave like Steven Gerrard in the years he was here and work like he did, then the door has to be open always and that's what we're doing now.
“Everybody knows him better than myself so it's good to have him around because he's a nice person and all the players love him.”
The midfielder spent 27 years with his boyhood club and won ten trophies in total. The jewel in his crown is the Champions League triumph in 2005 when Gerrard-led-Liverpool came from 3-0 down in the first half to go and win the CL final in Istanbul against AC Milan, however, he never got a chance to lay his hands on the coveted English Premier League trophy.
The Kop legend might not take too kindly to Klopp’s comparison, given the legendary rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United, but Klopp’s intentions were surely to compliment Gerrard.
