Liverpool are Premier League champions thanks to 'laser-focused' Klopp, says Neville

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The former Manchester Unite`d right-back credited the German coach for turning the Reds into European and English champions

Gary Neville says Jurgen Klopp's "great coaching" and Liverpool's recruitment strategy were pivotal in the club's Premier League success.

The Reds sealed the top-flight title for the first time in 30 years this season, having taken a 23-point lead over Manchester City with seven games left to play.

Liverpool finished sixth in the league the season before Klopp took over at the helm and transformed the team into Champions League and Club World Cup winners before their latest triumph.

Ex-Manchester United and England full-back Neville credited Klopp with fine-tuning the squad says he has done an incredible job to overtake their rivals and dominate the league.

"It's a brilliant achievement from Klopp, to work within the net spend budget he has to amass that team has been a combination of great coaching and brilliant recruitment," he said on Sky Sports.

"The club's recruitment has been absolutely spot on, precise, laser-focused, every single player they have brought in they have made count. Every single player fits a mould, the principles of Klopp, there has been no veering away from that.

"From day one, when Christian Benteke and a few others were deemed not to fit the profile they were moved aside.

"Klopp has now got quick, energetic strikers who make the runs, a formidable defence, the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment in time, and in midfield he's got reliable players with really good personalities in Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum.

"None of them are individually outstanding or the best in the world in their position, but together as a collective with that goalkeeper, that defence, those full-backs, that strike force, they become the rock in the middle of it all."

Neville says it is Klopp who has "set the tone" for everyone at the club and turned the Anfield side into a "fantastic" team.

"They have absolutely been the best team this season," he added. "What Jurgen Klopp has done has been fantastic. He came in four years ago and at the time I never thought Liverpool were capable of mounting a Premier League title challenge. It just felt like all of the other clubs had bigger budgets.

"Liverpool were in a deep rut over many, many years. They have great history and a great fanbase so you can never write clubs like that off, but to go and win a league title ahead of the investment of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United is something I didn't think was possible.

"What Klopp has done over a three or four-year period has been absolutely outstanding. Everything at a football club comes from the manager, he sets the tone for everybody; the players, the owners, the fanbase. Klopp has galvanised Liverpool over a three-year period, brought everybody with him and put a brilliant team together.

"They're a fantastic team, they've been brilliant to watch for three years but painful for me. It's been coming.

"When you get to a Champions League final and lose you have a little smirk, but when they won the Champions League the following year and chased Manchester City like they did to a point where they would have been worthy champions last season, you can only congratulate them.

"It's obviously something that is horrible for every Manchester United fan, it's something the modern Manchester United fan has never seen but as one who watched them in the '70s and '80s it's a moment we didn't want to see again but one we saw a lot of in our early years."

2020-06-30 23:00:04

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