‘You didn’t mess around with him’ – Roy Evans likens Jurgen Klopp to ex-Liverpool manager Joe Fagan

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Roy Evans has claimed that Jurgen Klopp reminds him of former Liverpool manager Joe Fagan due to the fact that the German is ‘straightforward’ and hinted that there is a ‘boot room’ culture at the club at the moment.

The latter managed the Reds between 1983 and 1985 and was the first English manager to win three major trophies in a single season, something our current boss will be aiming to do this term.

“I’m a fan of Jurgen Klopp. I like the way he manages,” Evans told 90min.

“He reminds me a little bit of Joe Fagan in some ways, because Joe was straightforward and you didn’t mess around with him. But [everyone in the Boot Room] had a different role and I’m sure that Jurgen will have a staff around him that are all into different things.”

Fagan won us our fourth European cup in 1984 and our current boss has since made it six with our victory in Madrid in 2019 as well as the Istanbul victory in 2005 under Rafael Benitez.

There are a lot of similarities as Evans has rightly pointed out and the squad we have now is arguably just as talented as the teams we had during our most successful years back in the 70s and 80s.

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Other than praising Klopp for the work he does in the dugout, Evans was also keen to highlight the one man he believes is vitally important to the Reds on the pitch.

“People like Henderson – he’s one of those guys that is very straightforward – good player by the way – but also talks to people on the pitch,” Evans added.

“He’s helpful and keeps it together, a bit like Van Dijk. Van Dijk is a great footballer, but also when it comes to talking to players from that position. They’re the people that keep the team together. They’re not criticising [the other players] but their mouth is just as important as their football ability.”

Our skipper is crucial to our team – we’re a much stronger outfit when he’s in the starting XI and setting the tempo.

We may have more technically gifted players in our squad than Henderson, but his importance to the team does not go unnoticed.

It’s great to see a Liverpool legend in Evans complimenting the current group – let’s hope the club can make more history this season and go on and complete a wonderful quadruple.

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