Jurgen Klopp has named four of the greatest managers in the history of football to compile his Mount Rushmore, and his list of iconic candidates includes some surprises.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp named Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola to his Mount Rushmore, but downplayed figures such as Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti.
The German coach thought carefully about the difficult task of narrowing down the list of the best managers in the history of football to just four players, but removed his name from the list. But as the 58-year-old pondered his options, he couldn’t resist offering his biggest rival a seat at his most luxurious table.
Klopp, currently Red Bull’s global head of football, ended his coaching career with a win over Guardiola, but was unable to translate that success into defeating the Catalan manager to win multiple Premier League titles. The former Reds manager has previously said Guardiola’s understanding of football is second to none and that he is an inspiration.
However, the Manchester City manager was not the only Barcelona icon named on the list. Manager Klopp paid tribute to Johan Cruyff’s influence on the game by mentioning his name first.
“This is like my Mount Rushmore of football coaches, it’s really difficult to do it with four people, but I’ll try anyway,” Klopp began. “Johan Cruyff is the most influential football manager I’ve ever heard of. The way he sees football and understands football is second to none.
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“Pep Guardiola, I can say exactly the same thing about him. I faced him and I knew how difficult it was.”
Next up was Manchester United and Premier League legend Ferguson. While Klopp praised his success, he also reflected on his relationship with the Scottish manager, who won 13 titles with him during his time at Old Trafford.
“It’s going to be really tricky from now on,” Klopp continued. “Let’s go to Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager of all time and one of my favorites.”
Klopp had a number of candidates in mind for the final spot on his footballing monument, but he couldn’t afford to ignore Liverpool on this occasion. Bill Shankly beat out competition from Reds icon Bob Paisley.
Shankly won three league titles, two FA Cups and a European trophy in 15 years, laying the foundations for his assistant Paisley to become Liverpool’s most successful manager with six league titles and three European Cups.
“And now we can hardly make any decisions,” Klopp said. “Carlo Ancelotti is obviously on my mind, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, I’ve heard a lot about them but I’ve never seen them.
“But yes, I’d like to see Bill Shankly on Mount Rushmore. That’s it.”
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