Gary Neville named his top five Premier League managers ever and former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp made the cut.
Yes, Jurgen Klopp is now the former Liverpool manager. That will take some getting used to – and we’ll probably never like it.
One thing it does mean, though, is that we can reflect back on his time as a whole and judge it, essentially. So how well has he done?
Klopp took a team with one Champions Leauge appearance in six years, of course. He had them back in Europe’s showpiece after one full season, then got them into the final as soon as they were back.
The year after that, he won it – and produced a 97-point Premier League campaign. That’s the most of any European team to not win the title as the Reds lost just once across 38 games.
2019/20 then saw Liverpool dominate the league, dropping just two points until February. They’d eventually finish on 99, the second-most in history.
A season of struggle followed, but Liverpool rebounded in 2021/22. Klopp led them on a quadruple charge but they’d fall agonisingly short – only two games separated them from winning all four trophies.
2022/23 was a bust, admittedly, but 2023/24 saw Klopp rebuild Liverpool into very-nearly title challengers before stepping down as boss. So again, how well has he done?
GARY NEVILLE RANKS MANAGERS
Gary Neville believes it’s enough for Klopp to rank fifth all-time as a Premier League manager.
“I put him fifth – he’s obviously a great manager – and I put him fifth after Sir Alex [Ferguson], Pep Guardiola, José [Mourinho], Arsene Wenger and Klopp. In that order,” he told the Overlap.
“Now, there was no one else near them and that five, for me, in the Premier League, I’m talking about, I put those five in that order.”
Jamie Carragher slightly disagreed.
“I would put him above Arsene Wenger,” he explained. “Only reason being: the Champions League. They never did crack that, did they?
“But Klopp got to three finals, obviously he won it once, and I just think coming up against City, points totals as well.”
So would you agree? There’s little disagreement that Klopp does make the top five but where should he land?
