Liverpool legend Klopp is not a ‘great’ of the game and there’s more empty seats at Arsenal than Man City

One Mailboxer is adamant that Jurgen Klopp is ‘definitely not’ a football ‘great’ and it’s claimed there are more empty seats at Arsenal than at Manchester City…

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Jurgen Klopp
Red Lester seems to think that Klopp not winning leagues and cups is not his fault as he couldn’t control the other team from winning their games or not his fault that his keeper had a howler on the biggest stage. So we should just assume Klopp should have more trophies and judge him on that? But you also say trophies shouldn’t matter? How many more trophies would Fergie have won if all small margins went in his favour, quite a few more leagues, and probably an extra 3 Champions leagues – but he doesn’t need them to meet the ‘great’ criteria. At the top of any sport winning is down to fine margins, that’s what separates good from great, winners from also rans.

And if trophies don’t matter then surely Kevin Keegans Newcastle are the greatest team ever. Never won shit but played the bestest football for two thirds of a season. Kevin Keegan must be the bestest manager ever too, we’ll just ignore his disastrous spell as England manager and that he didn’t do anything else of note in the top flight.

Trophies matter for teams and managers. It is exactly how they get measured. Same for players with a few exceptions who remain loyal to their club when they could have gone elsewhere to secure silverware (Le Tissier, Bull, Gerrard etc). Then you get the Sheringhams and Kanes that late in their career want to know what winning feels like. Without silverware a player does not get the same recognition no matter how good they might be.

At the end of the day, all.aspects of football are subjective (with our own bias), and our memories of the era we live through will add or detract from players and managers as we see fit. Jose will go down as a great for his trophy haul even if he bored the pants off so many fans and got sacked under a cloud at every club he went with many incidents of despicable behaviour.

Klopp has done a very good job at the pool, is he a great? Definitely not IMO but a Liverpool legend? that’s for the scousers to decide and it seems pretty clear he fits that bill.
Jon, Cape Town (might have to watch Bafana Bafana at AFCON now, haven’t watched them since 2010 – I’m a Brit BTW, not a saffa)

To Red Lester and all the other Clop fanboys desperately trying to claim his 2nd places finishes and cup final losses “mean more”, I give you this quote from the great Ricky Bobby – “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
That is all.
Sanjit (Thank you, Baby Jesus) Randhawa, Kuala Lumpur.

The Best Manager…of all time 
Eleven years have passed but the greatest manager the PL has ever seen is undoubtedly Sir Alex Ferguson. Klopp still has a long way to be the best of anything.

I think the scousers need to thank God he retired because they wouldn’t have won anything – not with him as manager of Man Utd. He was the one to topple them from their perch and I believe it will be the same team as soon as things settle down to do just that again.

Man Utd. will always remain the best team and when they are not they still are because no team in the world gets anywhere near 1.2 billion supporters world-wide neither anywhere near having the iconic and legendary reputation.

Man Utd need to get rid of players that are mercenary and bring in new talents like Mainoo who came from the academy and at 18 can score goals one can only dream about.

Forget Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and think about next season. None of the top teams were great this season and Man Utd just need to get serious competitive players who follow law and order dictated by their manager. We cannot have Rashfords and the likes going to Belfast and returning sick when there was an FA cup tie. These must leave or pull up their socks and behave. If I had Stg 300.000 a week, I would be very serious indeed.
La Vallette

Arteta in for Klopp…
Has anyone considered Mikel Arteta as a decent replacement for JK? There are quite a few boxes that’d be ticked .
Looking forward to a good match , like ‘chess with dice’ .
Peter. ( Madrid derby day ) Andalucia.

Trent Alexander-Arnold
It was probably about a year and a half ago now when I wrote in and said how Trent would be better suited to a role like the one which pirlo played.

Everyone laughed at the suggestion at the time. Also they incorrectly said I was claiming Trent had the same ability as pirlo, I never said that. I said they are both suited to the same role.

How times change
Lee 

Fake news 
Apologies, I have to take Lee’s assertions about Etihad attendances, to task here.

To say there were empty seats against Real in the CL semi-final, is simply not true. It’s a dead parrot, if you like. A mate of mine works at City and he was telling me, at the time, that the demand for tickets for that game was absolutely phenomenal, City could have sold the stadium out at least twice over, easily.

City recently sold all their spare tickets for the rest of the season. All of them. All. Of. Them. For the rest of the season. Could we do that if “people aren’t bothered”? No. City have started work on expanding the North Stand to enlarge the stadium to 62,500 seats. Would they do that if we couldn’t sell them, if “people aren’t bothered”? No.

Lee goes on to state that Arsenal rarely have empty seats. Which Arsenal is he talking about? I’ve no idea because he definitely isn’t on about the iteration in North London. I see empty seats at every game. You watch MOTD and they’re there, right in front of your eyes. Liverpool are the same. The Spirit of Shankley were talking, a couple of years back, about dialogue with Liverpool to try and fill the 2,000 seats that are left empty at every single game. Why would they be talking about this if Liverpool sell out every game?

As I say, watch MOTD and virtually every stadium has empty seats in it so I’m not sure where this fake narrative has come from, that City, alone, has this problem. It’s simply not true and it’s a fake stick that people use to try and beat the Club with. I just don’t understand why people continue to repeat this empty lie. Is it pretty much the last thing that people have to try and do us down, with? Aside from the obvious ongoing situation, I accept that.

There will always be people who buy a ticket, or hold a Season Ticket, and then not go. That mystifies me (why would anyone do that?) but people do. That will hold true for any club, not just City, Arsenal, Liverpool or Burnley, all clubs. However, it is a fact that City, going from the last full season that we had a 99.7% attendance. As near as dammit to a complete sell out, as makes no difference.

People like Lee repeat these bald assertions so often, they start to take hold in the public imagination. Perhaps that’s why this bollocks is held up as a truism when it’s actually more like a Trumpism and we all know what they are like.

Finally, I really don’t understand why people write in about clubs that they don’t support. Why are they motivated to do that? I don’t, I write in to defend City when people are talking balls and that’s it.

So, in essence and to wind this up (I’m currently sat in Gorton Market Hall, typing this, taking up a seat someone else could use), Lee and your type, wind your necks in, “people aren’t bothered”.

Comfortingly,
Levenshulme Blue, Manchester 19 (Currently in Manchester 18)

Chris Wilder. Hahahaha 
Watching the first 33 mins seeing Sheffield United 0-4 is beautiful

Why? I don’t like Villa, or dislike United but Chris Wilder. Wow. So arrogant. Achieved very little but when he talks you better listen. Don’t be a normal human, hungry after a game, eating a sandwich, whilst Wilder comes to you and moans about his own tactical ineptitude.

I’ve never liked him. I now want to hear all of his excuses after this ends at 0-7 (calling it now), have another go at someone trying to do their job but not listening when they dare do something else but concentrate on you and your bull poo

Blah blah, we never get the decisions. Sorry Chris. See you on the scrap heap next season

With thanks
Ade Walker LLB CMI

NUFC-Luton Town 
That match was absolutely mental. I feel like I ought to thank Luton Town FC for being a part of it. They were great today in a performance that mirrored Newcastle’s in more ways than goals scored. Both sides played high-risk football, so this match was all about transitions. When we beat them, they’d wind up beating us in similar ways. It was just a great match of football, decided in midfield comings-together and unexpected turns. I thought we might just about have deserved the win, but we certainly could have lost it, too. Also: I can’t recall a match in which there was never an offside called. Is that not as weird as I think?

Poor Dan Burn, though. He just can’t do the job against strong and quick wingers. When he’s in a back three, he’s solid enough and will become more so. But surely Livramento would be a better starting option at fullback? All in all, a daft day of football in the Barclays.
Chris C, Toon Army DC

Daniel Farke and the Championship
To break up the usual Klopp leaving/man utd being a mixed bag/city both ace and evading justice at the same time, I thought I’d share my love for Daniel Farke.

What he’s done at leeds is great – we are fighting for second, have a renewed sense of hope and he’s slowly phasing out the old guard. From the crappiness of last season (aside from beating Liverpool at Anfield and thrashing Chelsea) to actually being decent again, it’s been great so far!

Let’s have a bit more love for the championship – a three way shoot out for automatic promotion and Leicester being fantastic yet still catchable at the same time makes it fascinating!
Tom (one of many Tom’s who write in, I’ve noticed)

Jeremy Aves response 
Jeremy Aves email in the last mailbox makes sense about Connor Coventry but unfortunately where would that leave the likes of Argel Fuchs & David Goodwillie though I suppose Alphonse Areola will be having a better time than at West Ham.
Adam Williams, Louisiana.