Liverppol manager, Jurgen Klopp says he was shocked to be named winner of The Best FIFA Men’s Coach award on Thursday.
Klopp won the award for the second consecutive year after guiding Liverpool to Premier League glory.
It was the first time the Reds had won the title in English football’s top flight in 30 years.
Klopp spoke after he was named as the winner, expressing surprise that he pipped Bayern Munich’s Hansi Flick to claim the prize.
Flick came up short despite guiding Bayern to the treble, with glory in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League.
Remarkably, he was still assistant to Niko Kovac on July 20, 2019 when the period under consideration for the award began.
Klopp clearly anticipated a Flick win in the top coaching award as he responded to Thursday’s announcement with surprise.
“I am [shocked],” he said. “I was just sitting here because last year I won it, so then I show everybody the respect when I’m nominated and show up wherever it is.
“Many people were surprised when my name was mentioned. I would have expected to hear the name of Hansi Flick too. But I wasn’t involved in the vote. It’s a great honor and difficult to believe.”Told again at the end of his acceptance speech that he was The Best FIFA Men’s Coach, Klopp replied: “I’m not but I won the award, so that’s good enough.”
Liverpool moved back top of the Premier League on Wednesday with a dramatic 2-1 home win over title rivals Tottenham.
