If you think Jurgen Klopp seems pally with his Liverpool charges, you should realise it’s not an act.
The former Borussia Dortmund boss has been a breath of fresh air since replacing Brendan Rodgers last season – for fans, for the Premier League, and certainly for Liverpool’s players.
Adam Lallana has come out of a bit of a slump since Klopp’s arrival, and he perhaps spends more time than any of his team-mates around the Reds manager. The reason? They’re next-door neighbours.
“I see him taking his bins out, we take each other’s mail. We just have a relationship like normal people do,” Lallana told the Daily Mail.
Lallana, who has started Liverpool’s first three league and cup games this season, told the paper about an early meeting where Klopp “told us he was going to be our friend but not our best friend.”
“That’s how it should be,” explained the England midfielder, who scored seven goals in 49 games last season and six in 41 in the previous campaign.
Liverpool have strengthened in all departments this season, with new arrivals Sadio Mané and Gini Wijnaldum and returning loanee Marko Grujić providing plenty of competition for places. But £25m man Lallana clearly still enjoys a good relationship with his boss.
Read more