Ian Wright and Alan Shearer both rate Jurgen Klopp as the sixth-best manager in Premier League history, and greatest never to have won the competition.
Klopp was appointed Liverpool manager in October 2015 and has transformed the club since, taking them to Champions League glory last summer and the brink of the title this campaign.
The Reds are 25 points clear of Manchester City and within two games of their first top-flight title since 1990, with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin suggesting he “can’t see a way“ Liverpool are not crowned champions despite the threat of a voided season.
Even without a winner’s medal in his collection, Match of the Day pundits Wright and Shearer both rank Klopp as the sixth-best coach in Premier League history.
“I don’t think you can argue with what Liverpool have done in the last couple of years,” said Wright. “You just have to hope that something can be resolved so they can take the trophy they so richly deserve.
“We’re talking about somebody who has come in and Liverpool had a 60-page dossier on him. You know, he had a four-hour interview. He knew exactly what he wanted, laid it out, told them exactly what he was going to do and he’s done it up to this point. The only thing that can stop someone like Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp at the moment is something like this bloody virus.
“We do this in another three, four, five years and Jurgen Klopp is well up there. He’s way up there.”
Both Wright and Shearer had Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Sir Kenny Dalglish ahead of the German on their respective lists, with the candidates chosen by BBC commentators.
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