Jurgen Klopp sends classy message to Mauricio Pochettino at FIFA Best awards

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp delivered a classy message to Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino at the FIFA Best awards.

Klopp was accepting the award for Best Men’s coach, after guiding the Reds to Champions League glory against the odds, and accruing 96 points in an amazing Premier League campaign.

The German won the award ahead of rivals Pochettino and Pep Guardiola, who masterminded a domestic quadruple at Manchester City.

In the eyes of Klopp it was the club’s European triumph that helped him land the individual award and, with Pochettino in the audience, the 52-year-old said (football.london): “It is great, nobody expected this 20, 10, five, four years ago that I would be standing here. Mauricio, I won that game [the Champions League final], that’s why I’m here not you.

“That’s just how football is. We know what an incredible job you [Mauricio Pochettino] did and what Pep did.”

TBR’s view

It is good of Klopp to acknowledge the brilliant work of Pochettino, who likely would have won the award himself had Spurs gotten the better of their opponents in Madrid.

The Argentine getting his team to the final without spending a penny in the previous two transfer windows really does highlight what an excellent coach he is.

Perhaps if he was backed in the same way as Klopp at Liverpool, then his side would reach the next level and be able to win him that first elusive trophy.