SORRY JURGEN. . .WILDER IS MY MANAGER OF THE YEAR
JURGEN KLOPP will go down in history as one of the greatest managers ever. Deservedly so, too.
The man’s a genius, from his tactics to the way he conducts himself. Kudos to the German’s English teacher because he is such an eloquent speaker. He always knows exactly what to say and his enthusiasm is infectious. The players adore him and so do the supporters.
But there is only one Manager of the Year for me, and that is Chris Wilder of Sheffield United.
At the start of this season, me and 11 of my Sportsmail colleagues — including Peter Crouch, Martin Keown and Chris Sutton — were asked for our predictions. Those forecasts were published on August 9, and every single one of us had the Blades finishing in the bottom three.
A few also tipped Liverpool to win the Premier League, myself included, because we knew
Klopp’s men would be contenders. They picked up 97 points last year. They won the Champions League. They’ve been building towards this since Klopp arrived in 2015, so we can’t say the 53- year- old performed a miracle in leading Liverpool to the title. But I count what Wilder has achieved in his first season as a Premier League manager as miraculous. Not only have his side survived, they have survived with style. Wilder, 52, took a group of players who, no disrespect, had hardly walked the red carpet in their careers, and made them competitive. He stood by a system that is unique — a 3-5-2 that involves centre backs overlapping and overloading the flanks. It’s football on the front foot. We thought they’d be found out playing that way. We thought because they didn’t spend a fortune in the transfer market, like Aston Villa, that they’d struggle. How wrong we were. Only Manchester City and Liverpool have produced more crosses. Only a handful of clubs have allowed fewer shots against them, with Wilder’s back three of Chris Basham, John Egan and Jack O’Connell having kept many a striker quiet.
Tammy Abraham was the latest on Saturday, while Olivier Giroud could not drag Chelsea back into the game after coming on.
Because of all this, a European adventure could follow.
I wrote a column earlier this season explaining why Wilder was not an ‘old-school manager’. Sure, he let his players have a beer after beating Chelsea 3- 0. Sure, he demands they work hard. But Wilder is the most forward-thinking coach in the top flight. He’s new school.
I have nothing but good things to say about Klopp. Liverpool have evolved into a successful side on his watch. But Wilder’s achievements deserve recognition.
If it was up to me, I’d give him the Manager of the Year gong.