Jurgen Klopp delighted Liverpool fans last week by signing a new contract to stay until 2026 at least.
It means Klopp is set to be in charge for nine trophy laden years at Anfield. Midfielder James Milner has delivered the verdict on the German's contract extension from Liverpool's dressing room - and an amusing underwhelming description.
Milner joked: “He’s not a bad manager, is he? Yeah, we’re all happy.” Milner was at Anfield when Klopp arrived in October 2015, and has charted the team’s development from wannabes to the real thing - and chasing a quadruple this season.
He added: “It’s outstanding. I’ve seen that process bit by bit. Seeing signs but not having consistency every week. Then building it, and we’re getting better and the counter press coming on. And then the quality with the ball. It’s been one big process. He’s done an incredible job and obviously, the longer he’s here the better for the football club. You can see the changes – there’s been a lot of changes in personnel and on the playing staff.
“The ideas are similar, obviously they’ve evolved and developed as the team has developed. The intensity has always been there but we manage to maintain it now. I think you see the level the boys played at midweek and then to do it again on Saturday is incredible. That’s a process about getting the fitness levels, the mentality to be able to do it and getting the squad together. You wouldn’t be able to talk about the competitions we’re still in at this stage of the season if we hadn’t got a squad full of strong players.”
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Reds boss Klopp hailed Milner's enduring professionalism against Newcastle, and his influence on the rest of the club's players. He said: "Millie is incredibly important for us, that’s very important, because people think if you talk about the dressing room....yes, it is helpful. He’s very helpful there, especially with a manager who is not a native speaker. But, on the pitch as well, he played a super game. Super game. I don’t want to take anything away from him, but I liked Naby Keita’s performance as well a little bit.
"Hendo on six, that worked really well. The boys were on fire, we played football, we kept the ball in the right moments. We struggled around the second-ball fights, we knew that before the game because there’s no way - that I know at least - to defend them 100 per cent. So, tricky, 50-50, in between balls - that’s not cool to defend. But, apart from that I really loved the game. James was a massive part of it.
"It’s difficult to be fitter than Millie. He’s a role model; I told him and can I tell the world, nothing what we achieved in the last few years would have happened over the last few years without James Milner. Easy as that, whether he was on the pitch or not. It’s because he set the standards in a way not a lot of people can set standards. He has educated all of us."
