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Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp Is Copying Sir Alex Ferguson Tactic And He's Doing It Well

Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp Is Copying Sir Alex Ferguson Tactic And He's Doing It Well

"He controlled the narrative and I think that's what Klopp is doing very well at the moment."

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Rio Ferdinand has picked up on a trait of Jurgen Klopp that reminds him of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson; the art of mind games.

On Saturday afternoon, the Liverpool manager had a heated argument with BT Sport reporter Des Kelly after his side's 1-1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion.

The 53-year-old brought up injuries, the broadcast schedule and even Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder into conversation, deflecting his side's poor performance at The Amex onto matters elsewhere.

Klopp's clever mind games and media tactics have led BT pundit Ferdinand to make a comparison to his old manager Sir Alex Ferguson during coverage of Tuesday's Champions League clash between Liverpool and Ajax.

"Sometimes he'd (Ferguson) do a team talk after a game and be as calm as you like and then he'd go out for an interview and we'd see him on the TV screen and he would be going bananas about a decision no-one had even thought about." Ferdinand said while on punditry duty for BT Sport.

"But that took the spotlight off someone else or something else that could derail us.

"He controlled the narrative and I think that's what Klopp is doing very well at the moment.

"Maybe sometimes he's talking about stuff outside of that (game) which can take away from the performance or the little creaks that happen within the 90 minutes."

Former Tottenham and Liverpool striker Peter Crouch, who was also on punditry for last night's game, also brought king of mind games Jose Mourinho into the equation.

"Sir Alex Ferguson, over the years, always talked about international football and the fixture list (after games). Mourinho too. All the best managers do it and they're trying to get an edge.

"They all want to get one up. I think it helps in the dressing room (that mentality) 'of everyone is against us because we're the best and 'nobody is going to give us any help'.

"I think that helps in the dressing room of you versus us."

Thoughts on Jurgen Klopp's interviews of late?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Football, Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand, Jurgen Klopp

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

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