Interim Chelsea head coach Bruno Saltor has spoken of his ‘pure admiration’ for Jurgen Klopp ahead of the Blues’ clash against Liverpool on Tuesday night.
While the 42-year-old becomes the third man to take charge of the west London side in eight months, the German is the longest-serving manager in the English top flight, having been in the job for seven-and-a-half years.
The 55-year-old has won seven trophies at Anfield, including the Premier League and Champions League, although the Reds are finding it much harder going this season, currently languishing in eighth place in the table.
Nonetheless, Bruno has been gushing over Klopp in his press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s game, saying (as per football.london): “Obviously pure admiration towards Jurgen. I cannot say anything that everyone doesn’t know.
“Obviously they are going through a tough season as well but they’ve got top players and we’re expecting a really aggressive game, high intensity and we need to be ready.”
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Bruno has actually come up against Klopp once before, albeit in a different capacity – he was Brighton’s captain on the day that they lost 5-1 to Liverpool at the Amex Stadium in December 2017 (Transfermarkt).
That was midway through a season which saw the Reds reach the Champions League final, the first of three under their current boss, who won the tournament in 2019.
The German has also led his side to phenomenal points totals of 97, 99 and 92 in three of the last four full Premier League campaigns, and only the simultaneous presence of a formidable Manchester City team has prevented him from dominating the English top flight in recent years.
Klopp might be finding things a lot harder over the past few months, but his managerial record at Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund speaks for itself.
If Bruno can go on to enjoy a coaching career anywhere near as prosperous as the man in the opposite dugout tomorrow night, he’ll be doing very well for himself indeed.