According to former Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow, manager Jurgen Klopp is under no pressure whatsoever and is the ideal man to take the club forward.
Liverpool will face Manchester United at Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday. United are level on points with Manchester City at the top of the league table. A defeat against the Mancunians would set Klopp’s side 10 points adrift of their bitter rivals after just eight games into the new season.
Klopp had to endure a barrage of criticism recently after recording just one win in the last seven games. When asked if the former Borussia Dortmund boss was under any pressure, Purslow insisted that was not the case.
“If you mean from his ownership, none whatsoever,” he said.
“He’s two years into this job that looked to be perfect for Jurgen Klopp. There are great similarities between what he achieved at Dortmund, what he was expected to achieve – which was to compete with an absolute behemoth in Bayern Munich, while spending less money, both on wages and in the transfer market.
“That is the job description at Liverpool.”
Klopp’s tenure as Liverpool manager has been bittersweet. The club are back in the Champions League but the lack of silverware in Merseyside has left some fans disappointed. Purslow cites the financial muscle of clubs like United as a major factor as to why Liverpool are unable to seriously challenge for top honours.
“There are revenue differences between Manchester United and Liverpool,” added Purslow. “Liverpool’s are still superb but they are a fraction of Manchester United.
“And yet the Liverpool manager is expected to compete with United and beat them, exactly as Klopp did – winning two league titles in Germany against Bayern Munich with a fraction of their spending.”
Despite Liverpool’s shortcomings in recent games, Purslow is adamant that Klopp is the perfect man to take the club back to its former glory.
“He is perfect for Liverpool. It is an innately difficult project, to compete with less money.”
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