HE'S JUR MAN
Liverpool should consider Gareth Southgate to replace Klopp and stop him going to Man Utd, says former club star
Ex-England star believes Southgate could have problems at Old Trafford
GLEN JOHNSON has urged former club Liverpool to replace Jurgen Klopp with Gareth Southgate.
The German, who guided the Reds to Carabao Cup joy last month, shocked the Kop in January by announcing that he would leave the club this summer.
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While he looks to sign-off with a treble by winning the Premier League title and Europa League, Liverpool are still searching for his replacement.
Xabi Alonso is a leading contender after his stunning season in charge of Bayer Leverkusen while Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi is another to have been linked.
However, ex-Liverpool full-back Johnson believes that the current England manager would be an ideal choice if he becomes available.
He told : “If he’s available in the summer, then you’ve got to look at all the options.
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“He’s done a brilliant job with England, so there’s no reason why he can’t be successful with a club like Liverpool as he’d be dealing with a similar standard of players.
“You’d need to have the chat because you can’t just dismiss him if he’s available.”
The England boss, 53, has recently been mooted as a potential successor to Erik ten Hag if Manchester United give him the boot - something Southgate has refused to discuss.
However, Johnson says that he does not believe that United’s players would react as well to Southgate as his trusted lieutenants do for the Three Lions.
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He said: “I’m not sure because despite being a top bloke and great manager, I believe Gareth gets more respect from the players in the England squad because he’s English.
“Foreign players in Manchester United’s squad are initially not going to have that same level of respect for Gareth as the English players do.
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“It would take a bit of time for him to win them over and if he can, then he’s more than capable of being successful.”
When pressed on whether Southgate could deliver success at Old Trafford, Johnson added: “There have been a number of good, successful managers that have gone into the job at Manchester United and have struggled, so it wouldn’t be guaranteed success for Gareth if he was to take the job.
“Manchester United are a huge club, with great support and on paper, they have a very good squad too.
“A top manager like Gareth could come in, get rid of a lot of the deadwood, provide that team with a good backbone and make Manchester United successful again.
"However, there’s been a lot of good managers that have taken that job in recent years and have failed.”
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