Jurgen Klopp said he is wary of what the new manager of West Brom Sam Allardyce would bring to the table ahead of Liverpool vs West Brom Premier League game scheduled for today, December 27, at 17:30.
West Brom appointed Sam Allardyce earlier in December 2020 with the hope that he would save them from relegation. Though the 66-year-old coach went on to guide West Brom to a 3-0 defeat in the hands of Aston Villa on December 20, few days after he was appointed the coach of the club, Klopp says he respects the English tactician “a lot”.
The German tactician who will go face to face with Sam Allardyce later today noted that though he does not know the coach on personal grounds, he knows what Allardyce can do with a club like West Brom which has recorded only one victory in 14 league games.
The poor form of West Brom since they returned to the Premier League this season has left the club in the 19th spot on the league table with just 7 points, 4 points away from safety.
Sam Allardyce has handled clubs that are in the current situation of West Brom and he was able to rescue them. For instance, he led Bolton Wanderers to promotion in 2001.
In 2012, Sam Allardyce repeated the same feat with West Ham United by helping them to return to the Premier League. He continued his tactical crusade in 2016 by helping Sunderland to survive relegation. He performed the same miracle for Crystal Palace in 2017.
His last club was Everton which he coached for 6 months before he was sacked in 2018 due to a poor run of games. Besides helping clubs to win promotions and survive relegations, the English tactician has not been able to win any major title with any club he has coached. However, he is one of the most respected coaches in England.
“I haven’t got to know him too well, we only met at the sideline and he is very animated and I’m very animated but I respect him a lot,” Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports News ahead of Liverpool vs West Brom match.
“West Brom is in a difficult situation and they decided to bring in Sam and he has a proven record in this kind of situation. So we are aware of that and it will be a tricky one because I wouldn’t say we are obsessed, but we love to analyze the opponent before a game to know as much as we can.
“That makes it difficult this time because Sam had only three or four days before he played against Aston Villa so maybe not too many changes before that. But now a full training week for our game so he can change a lot of things.
“It makes analysis tricky. We expect to face a lower block, we expect facing a team who tries to play channel balls in behind with a lot of runs and a lot of sprints this kind of stuff and we have to be creative, concentrated, and defend, especially in the counter-pressing moments.
“We know what Sam can do, how he can organize a team and in one and a half weeks you can do a lot as a coach, so we expect that.”
