5 contenders for the Premier League Manager of the season

#4 The Surprising One - Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool

Klopp has answered every question asked of his team this season

The inclusion of the Liverpool boss as a strong contender will be a surprising one for many but to understand the reasons behind it, we need to revisit a few stages of this season. After a decent start, Liverpool's defensive problems came to the fore which culminated in a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of top four rivals, Tottenham, back in October.

Considering the problems and the smaller squad when compared to their rivals, the Reds were tipped for another finish outside the Champions League places with a few sections of the fanbase and media wanting Klopp to walk. After a slight upturn in form, the sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January dampened the positivity around Virgil van Dijk's signing a week earlier. As no replacement came in during the winter transfer window, Liverpool's top four hopes were written off.

However, the clubs are currently in third place ahead of Tottenham, Chelsea, and Arsenal and need only two wins out of the remaining four matches to qualify for next season's Champions League. Further, existing players have improved, the defence has tightened and defensive errors have come down drastically while the attack has blossomed with Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane scoring 82 goals between themselves so far.

Thus, Klopp has not only turned the tide but also took the Merseyside club to another level as discussions of a title-push next season are now regular amongst the media and fanbase. The German has definitely shown a glimpse of his world-class managerial ability this season and is an unlikely yet strong contender based on the evidence above.