Klopp building ‘special’ Liverpool
MANAGER Jurgen Klopp’s leadership is laying the foundations for “something special” at Liverpool, forward Giorginio Wijnaldum has said.
Liverpool have started the new Premier League campaign with 10 points from a possible 15 after a 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Friday.
The Merseyside club, who won at Arsenal and also beat champions Leicester City 4-1, were held to a 1-1 draw by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane following their 2-0 defeat by promoted Burnley last month.
“This is a very talented squad with a great coach,” Wijnaldum, who joined Liverpool from relegated Newcastle United in July, told the Liverpool Echo.
“I believe he is building something special here. I got that feeling when I first met Klopp.
“I knew this was the right club for me. I always had a good feeling about moving to Liverpool and things have gone well so far. I am happy to be a part of it. I feel blessed.”
The Netherlands international, who scored 11 goals in 38 league appearances for Newcastle last season, is yet to open his account for Liverpool but is confident he will find the back of the net soon.
Learning
“I’m learning game by game and I think I’ll continue to get better. I hope the goals will come soon. I’m trying to get in the positions to score,” Wijnaldum added.
“Of course I want to score. I’ve always scored through the years, no matter who I’ve played for.”
Liverpool face Derby County in the League Cup tomorrow night before their league campaign continues at home to Hull City on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he rates Kevin de Bruyne as highly as any player he has managed, with the exception of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
The Belgian scored City’s first goal in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.
He now has 18 goals and 16 assists in 48 games for the Blues, who have begun the season with a club-record eight successive wins in all competitions.
Guardiola said: “Messi is on a table on his own. No-one else is allowed. But the table beside, Kevin can sit there.”
Throughout his stellar coaching career, 45-year-old Spaniard Guardiola has managed some of the world’s finest players, including Xavi and Andres Iniesta at Barcelona and Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller at Bayern Munich.
De Bruyne has taken seven games to show his new manager how talented he is, and took just 15 minutes to score against Bournemouth, as he did in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford seven days earlier.
But it is the former Chelsea man’s all-round contribution that has caught Guardiola’s attention.
“Kevin is an outstanding player,” he said. “Without the ball he is the first fighter. With the ball he is clear. He sees absolutely everything.”
According to Guardiola, the 25-year-old is fiercely ambitious, and keen to win the major individual prizes that have been the preserve of Messi and Real Madrid’s star Cristiano Ronaldo since 2008. – Reuters-BBC Sport