Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A TOUGH GIGG
Even United legend admits: It pains me to say so, but Liverpool under Klopp have been fantastic
RYAN GIGGS has revealed how it pains him to admit that Liverpool have become the best team in the land.
The Old Trafford legend spent almost 15 years lording it over Manchester United’s biggest rivals. Giggs won 13 championship medals as part of a haul of 34 trophies during a recordbreaking United career.
He took huge pleasure in helping Sir Alex Ferguson achieve his goal of knocking the Merseysiders “off their perch.”
But times have changed since the Welsh wizard brought the curtain down on his career in 2014, having made a remarkable 963 appearances for United.
‘Noisy neighbours’ Manchester City overtook them as the dominant force in English football before things went from bad to worse as the Reds took charge. Under Jurgen Klopp (above), the Merseysiders have won a sixth European crown and were on the brink of ending their 30-year wait to be league champions before the season was suspended in March due to Covid-19.
Giggs admits, through gritted teeth, that his old rivals have been brilliant to watch and thoroughly deserve to be champions.
In an interview with Laureus. com to celebrate the organisation’s 20th anniversary, Giggs, now Wales manager, said: “With the pause in the season because of Covid-19 there are a lot of questions still to be answered.
“But we have seen this year – and it pains me to say it as a United fan – that Liverpool are a fantastic team, managed by a great coach in Jurgen Klopp.
“Obviously they’ll go on and win the League and they will have deserved it. They’re a great team to watch. There are things I’ve taken out of the way Liverpool play to what I want to do with Wales. Hopefully United will bridge that gap and catch them up. But give credit where credit is due – Liverpool have been fantastic this season.”
Giggs might be a big admirer of Klopp but insists no manager will ever come close to scaling the heights Fergie did.
Giggs admits the Scot was his biggest influence and he is now modelling his own managerial style on the man who moulded him into one of the best players in United’s history.
He said: “He really is the biggest influence of my career. He had everything as a football manager. Tactically he knew his football, he knew his players.
“He could get the best out of great players. He knew when to give you the famous hairdryer treatment, where he would be close to you shouting, but he also knew when to put his arm around you.
“He evolved with the times.
When he first started he had a couple of staff but when he finished there were more staff than players and he embraced that.
“He ticks every box and I model a lot of the things that I do when I’m coaching on Sir Alex, like standards and discipline.”
Giggs still keeps close tabs on events at Old Trafford and believes Marcus Rashford will go on to become one of the United greats like he was – along with Red Devils target Jadon Sancho.
He added: “I’ve seen Marcus coming through the ranks, he’s such a talented player. And you have Sancho at Dortmund, a young player who made the bold decision to leave Manchester City and go to another country at a young age.
“And he really has made a difference. It’s great when you see young players burst on to the scene – they’re just fearless. They just don’t think too much about the game and just express themselves. And you think back to when you were like that.”
‘Liverpool are a fantastic team – hopefully United will bridge that gap’