EPL legend Wayne Rooney disagreed with Jürgen Klopp's comments on the possible domination of the Premier League by a single club.
The German manager was critical of his side's chances of establishing an era of dominance despite being on the brink of a historic title win. Liverpool are just two wins away from sealing their first EPL title in 30 years. They are on course for an unprecedented point tally, potentially surpassing Pep Guardiola's 100-point season in 2017/18 with Manchester City.
However, Manchester United's top-scorer — who played under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson — believes that Klopp and Liverpool can replicate what the Red Devils did. Sir Alex spent 27 years at the helm of Old Trafford and won a whopping 13 EPL titles and two UEFA Champions Leagues among other significant honours.
'Let Klopp go on and on,' says EPL icon Rooney
Writing in his column on the Sunday Times, Rooney explained;
"They have a brilliant back four and goalkeeper, the best front three in world football, a press that suffocates you and a mentality I recognise. Their players go on the pitch believing they will win every game and still believe it when they go a goal down. It’s the mindset we used to have at United. Where we had Sir Alex Ferguson, they have Jürgen Klopp."
The five-time EPL winner drew comparisons between the great Red Devils sides that he was a part of, and is confident that Liverpool can do the same. He praised Klopp, who he believes could stay at Anfield for years and spark an era of dominance. He continued,
"There’s a simple way for Liverpool: let Klopp go on and on. United dominated because Fergie stayed so long. I think if Klopp, who is only 53, stayed at Anfield for the next ten years Liverpool would win at least five Premier League titles. He could keep building great sides because, as I mentioned, players join clubs to work with managers as good as him."
Klopp, awaiting his first EPL title win with the Reds, spoke on Saturday about how he believes it isn't possible to dominate for long periods like United did. He feels that the 13-time EPL winners and Sir Alex had a great combination of different things that worked well for them.
The Liverpool manager commented;
"I don’t think it is possible to dominate anymore, to be honest. United had a pretty good combination, with an exceptional manager with a super eye for players and fantastic timing for how long you need a player in the team."
He continued by speaking about how clubs need to go beyond the effort put in by the Red Devils to stay successful for a long time. The EPL manager also praised his former counterpart's eye for talent and the backing that he received. He continued,
"The replacements he got were always exceptional — and there was the money, too. The combination for United was really good. We must have done something right, obviously, until now. But we have to do these things — and probably even more — to stay successful."
Klopp and Liverpool are set to mark their EPL return with a Merseyside derby on Sunday. They are just two wins away from mathematically sealing an unbelievable title win. The EPL leaders have dropped only five points in the first 29 fixtures of the league campaign so far.