Gary Neville shares who he thinks has done the better job recently – Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola
Gary Neville has shared his verdict on which manager he believes has been better in the last six years in the Premier League: Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola.
Considering Manchester City and Liverpool have been battling for top spot in the English top-flight over the years, whether Guardiola or Klopp has done a better job at their respective sides has constantly been debated.
In terms of silverware, the Catalan, who joined City in 2015 has won 16 trophies at the club while the German, who was appointed by Liverpool in 2016 has won just seven in comparison.
Gary Neville settles Pep Guardiola-Jurgen Klopp debate
However, such debates are rarely only settled by which manager has won more trophies.
The context of the size of both jobs is often taken into consideration as well as how dominant a manager was during their time in charge.
Gary Neville, however, feels that Jurgen Klopp has done a better job than Pep Guardiola over the last six years in the Premier League.
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Manchester City v Liverpool FC – Premier League
“Manchester City have been incredible, [Pep] Guardiola’s a genius. [Jurgen] Klopp’s been the best manager I’ve seen in the last six years because of what he’s had to do against Guardiola with the resources that he’s had”, he said on Sky Sports’ The Gary Neville Podcast.
Interestingly enough, Klopp himself admitted in December that Guardiola’s City side are the best team he has seen in the last 10 years.
Pep Guardiola is a better manager than the Liverpool legend in almost every possible way
Firstly, both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp had vastly different remits at Manchester City and Liverpool respectively, which is why the criteria used by Gary Neville is disagreeable, in our view.
One could argue that Klopp had a more difficult task at hand.
However, by merely viewing management through such a lens, Claudio Ranieri’s time at Leicester City should put him in contention for being a greater coach than both the Manchester City and Liverpool bosses.
For starters, the former Borussia Dortmund boss has not managed to dominate in the same vein as Pep Guardiola, who has showcased his tactical flexibility to become the Premier League’s most successful manager after Sir Alex Ferguson.
For instance, last season, while Jurgen Klopp’s side fell to fifth place in the league, the Spaniard led his team to win the treble, which was arguably primarily down to his tactical genius.
Apart from even tactics, how Guardiola is able to predict when it is time to let a player go, stretching back to his days at Barcelona when he allowed Ronaldinho and Deco to leave in 2008 is a quality that Klopp lacks.
The likes of Jordan Henderson and James Milner in particular were way past their best even before last season and yet, the pair characterized an ageing squad that lacked the quality to compete for silverware.
Trophies, tactics and squad building; Pep Guardiola excels in arguably the main facets of being a manager much more than Jurgen Klopp and in English football, he has outdone the latter by quite some distance.
‘It’s going to be’… Man City star Rodri now makes assured prediction about the Premier League title race
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
The Premier League title race this year is shaping up to be one of the closest and most entertaining ones in years – and Manchester City star Rodri feels pretty sure one thing is going to happen.
City currently sit second in the table and two points behind Liverpool.
On Saturday, City defeated Everton without playing particularly well, with Erling Haaland scoring a brace at the Etihad for his first goals since returning from injury.
The introduction of Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne especially were key.
The win temporarily sent City to the top of the table, but Liverpool beating Burnley saw the Reds climb back to the summit.
Arsenal also enjoyed a thumping win at the weekend and things are extremely tight – and Rodri reckons the title race could genuinely go down to the wire…
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Rodri predicts the Premier League title race could go down to the final day
Manchester City v Everton FC – Premier League
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Currently, just two points are separating the top three, with Liverpool having a superior goal difference by just one.
City, of course, have a game in hand coming up against Brentford which will give Pep Guardiola‘s side the chance to go back top, which will deal a psychological blow to the others.
City fans will then hope the team can keep things going and blow Liverpool and Arsenal away.
But Rodri – branded ‘incredible’ by Pep Guardiola last week – does not foresee City running away with it, as was the case last season after they leapfrogged Arsenal.
He told the Mirror: “Since I arrived, every year has been more tough, to be honest. Now I think to be fair we have two more contenders for the title, even three if you want to add Villa.
“It’s even harder when you have more opponents. It’s going to be until the end. I don’t expect it’s going to be in one month, I think it’s going to be until the last game.”
This could be City’s hardest title race yet
This could well be Rodri just seeking to play some mind games, but the Spaniard may also genuinely feel as though the competition is much stronger this season.
Certainly, up until this point, both Liverpool and Arsenal have been excellent and Pep Guardiola has a real job on his hands to win another title.
No club has ever won four Premier Leagues in a row, and the Spaniard is going to have to do something very special if he is to achieve that. It is shaping up to be City’s hardest title race since the two with Liverpool in 2020/21 and 2018/19.
City just need to make sure they keep the momentum going.
Key players have returned now, and fans will feel confident that the team will be right up there at the end – it’s just whether Liverpool and Arsenal will both also be there.
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