Jurgen Klopp has showered praise on Leeds United boss Marco Bielsa ahead of hosting the newly-promoted side at Anfield on Saturday for the defending Premier League champions’ opening fixture of the 2020-21 league campaign.
The Reds play hosts to a Leeds United side that has entered the ranks of English top-flight football after a gap of 16 years. Bielsa’s men have enjoyed considerable success over the past couple of years on the pitch, winning last season’s Championship with a total of 93 points, ten adrift of second-placed West Brom.
Ever since the veteran Argentine manager’s appointment as the head coach for the Whites, the West Yorkshire-based side’s attractive brand of football has garnered numerous admirers across England’s footballing circle, one of whom is the Liverpool FC boss himself.
The 53-year old German admitted to having been left impressed by the exceptional manner of play adopted by Bielsa’s side in recent years. Klopp further complimented the ex- Athletic Bilbao coach, who will be in his opposite dugout on Saturday afternoon, as an extremely hard-working man.
“I admire him, but I was never close enough to him to really follow up,” he said. “I’ve watched his teams playing and that’s pretty exceptional. The rest I got from newspapers and the rest.
“We have a different approach. There are similarities but there are big differences as well. I like him, without knowing him, as a proper character. Maybe the hardest working of all of us. I don’t think we can compete with him in that area.”
“I’m really looking forward to meeting him. He’s an inspiration for all coaches because what he does, he sticks with it, pushes it through and is successful with it. That makes him really interesting in this business.”
