"Unai Emery Is A Better Coach Than Jurgen Klopp" According To Star Who Played Under Both

Former Liverpool defender Albert Moreno has claimed Unai Emery is the 'best coach' he's ever worked under ahead of Jurgen Klopp.

The Spaniard is now at Villarreal with Emery and they're gearing up for a Europa League final showdown with Manchester United on Wednesday evening.

Moreno has reignited his career with the Yellow Submarine after falling away on Merseyside - despite still having kind words for Klopp.

He told The Guardian per Mirror: "My relationship with Klopp was perfect and, with Unai, he's the best coach I've ever had.

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"He knows how to squeeze the best out of you, what to say at any moment, how to get the group to go out and 'eat' the opposition."

One key moment in Moreno's Liverpool career came in the 2016 Europa League final, when his mistakes saw the Reds lose 3-1 to Sevilla.

That summer saw Liverpool sign Andy Robertson and Moreno's chances were severely limited until his departure in 2019.

The 28-year-old holds no hard feelings against his former manager and is unsure if the call to reduce his game time was Klopp's or the club.

Moreno continued: "But protecting me would have meant keeping faith, giving me chances which didn't happen. I don't know if that was Klopp or the club.

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"After the final against Sevilla, James Milner played left-back. If the coach puts a right-footed central midfielder there, then he doesn't want me. But the following year pre-season started and he played me.

"I got back in the Spain squad after three years and just then, I injured my ankle. That was when Andy Robertson had his chance.

"He played at such a high level and that was it; I didn't get any more chances."

Moreno then paid tribute to Emery, who he also played under at Sevilla, discussing his plans for this season's Europa League final.

He added: "The players talk about it: 'Pfff, another video.' But you play well because you've spent an hour watching your opponents. Emery knows everything. By the time we've finished preparing, we'll know how many kids [Edinson] Cavani and [Paul] Pogba have got.

"The way the team's playing is testimony to his work. And he's also special because he gave me my debut and a run in the team when I was just a kid."

Topics: Liverpool, Unai Emery, Football, Villarreal, Jurgen Klopp

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

@DanMarland_