Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has praised Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for the job he has done with the Reds’ fearsome front three.
Under the German’s watchful eye, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane have transformed themselves into arguably the most fearsome attacking unit in Europe.
Neville credited Klopp as a reason why the attacking trio improved and claimed he now favoured them compared to Man City’s front three.
Neville has been very impressed: “You think about Salah who was rejected by Chelsea, Mane who was at Southampton and wasn’t pulling up any trees – he did look dangerous – and Firmino in his first season where I thought he didn’t look top quality,” he told Sky Sports.
“What Jurgen Klopp has done with these three to get them to continually run in behind all the time, press from the front, react so quickly when they give the ball away – he’s done an amazing job with these three. The front three for [Manchester] City are outstanding and you can’t say a bad word about them, but I actually prefer this three. I wouldn’t want to play against them.”
OPINION
It feels like Klopp doesn’t get enough credit for the work he’s done with the Liverpool front three. In truth, the whole of his staff and everyone at the club deserve recognition for how far the three players have come. They weren’t always world beaters, as Klopp says. Salah obviously failed to make the grade at Chelsea and, while he clearly came on leaps and bounds at Roma, there was no guarantee that he’d be able to replicate his Serie A success back in the Premier League. Then there’s Mane, who was a hugely talented but inconsistent winger at Southampton. Firmino, likewise, was a big Bundesliga success but started off slightly slowly in England. To consider how far they’ve come since then is truly remarkable. Mane has found the consistency he once lacked, while Salah has taken his game to a whole new level at Anfield. Firmino, too, is absolutely crucial to this Reds team. Credit to Klopp for knitting them together as well as he has done.
