Liverpool gaffer Jurgen Klopp has been named Barclays Premier League manager for the 2021/2022 season and has won the Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy for the League Managers Association (LMA) Manager of the Year.
The 54 year-old German led Liverpool to FA Cup and League Cup (Carabao Cup) success this season, and the Merseysiders racked up an astonishing 92 points to finish as runners-up to Premier League champions Manchester City – who pipped them by only a single point, as they went close to winning the Quadruple than any other English side in history.
Reflecting on the climax to the Premier League season while accepting his award, Klopp said: “It is a great honour and it was an insane season. The last matchday when only two games were meaningless and, in the rest, we all played for absolutely everything. It was a bit nervy, it wasn’t the best outcome for us, but we are already over it. And when you win a prize like this you are either a genius, or you have the best coaching staff in the world – I am here with four of my coaching staff, and they know how much I appreciate them.”
The former Borussia Dortmund coach also went home with the Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy for emerging the League Managers Association Manager of the Year, which is voted for by the full membership of managers across all the divisions. As Sir Alex himself announced the winner, he said: “This is agony, it’s absolute agony…Jurgen Klopp.”
On receiving the LMA Award, Klopp revealed: “This being voted for by my colleagues is obviously most important prize you can get. I don’t believe in individual prizes in football generally, it is a team sport and I would be nothing without these boys there. It is all about what we can do together and what we did together.”
Klopp emerged as the Premier League’s Manager of the Season winner from a shortlist that also included Thomas Frank (Brentford), Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Eddie Howe (Newcastle United) and Patrick Vieira (Crystal Palace). It is the second time he has won both honours, which he also previously claimed together in the 2019/2020 season.
Liverpool can still clinch a cup treble if they beat Real Madrid in Saturday’s UEFA Champions League Final in Paris, France to add to this season’s FA Cup and League Cup successes.
Apex Football News 