Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been hailed as the best coach in the world by one of his former players, Kevin-Prince Boateng.
The German manager has been a big hit at Anfield since replacing Brendan Rodgers at the helm in October 2015.
Last season he led his team to both the Europa League and Capital One cup finals and had them competing for the title in the first half of this campaign.
However, things have turned against him at the beginning of 2017 with Liverpool managing just one win in their last ten games in all competitions.
That has seen them fall 13 points behind league leaders Chelsea and get knocked out of both domestic cup competitions.
Questions are being raised about Klopp and his methods as a result but Boateng, who spent six months working with the current Reds boss when on loan at Borussia Dortmund in 2009, has no doubts about his qualities.
“He’s the best coach in the whole world. He knows when to push you and when to comfort you. He knows when you need a drink when you need water,” he told the Guardian.
“He has everything. Ask the players and they’ll say: ‘He’s the best, I’d die for him.’ He knows exactly what every player needs and gives them time.
“There were players at Dortmund who played five minutes in six months but they were happy: happy to come to training, happy to work, because he made you feel important.
“Not necessarily as a player – maybe he doesn’t need you – but as a person. That’s why he’s successful everywhere. And Liverpool’s perfect; just watching his presentation you see it. ‘The normal one’: people there love that.
“I’m happy to have met Klopp, to have worked with him, even if it was only six months.”