Former Manchester United Gary Neville has declared that it’s scary for the Premier League that Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola want to stay around at Liverpool and Manchester City.
The two managers have dominated the English Premier League in recent seasons. They have won the last five league titles, with Guardiola’s side pipping their rivals by one point after their dramatic 3-2 victory over Aston Villa.
This season, the Reds have already won two domestic trophies and could make that three if they beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday.
And speaking to the Overlap YouTube channel, the Skysports pundit said that it would be a ‘worry’ for other Premier League teams that neither manager looks ready to leave their respective clubs.
“The worry for the rest is that I thought these two managers would be gone two or three seasons ago,” he said.
“I thought ‘they’re going to do four years, five years, and then they’ll go, that next challenge will come – Barcelona, Real Madrid, wherever the next challenge is – the problem is now they’ve both embedded themselves into these two clubs.
“They recognise that the league’s the best it’s ever been, the rest of the leagues in Europe aren’t in a stronger position, the clubs that they’re at are giving them everything that they want and more, and they’re now going to be here for another three years maybe, four years and that’s the scary thing.”
Klopp recently signed a contract extension that keeps him at Liverpool till 2026, while Guardiola, whose current contract runs till next summer, has given no hint that he plans to leave the club in 2023.
During his time at Manchester United, Neville was part of a team that won four league titles in five years like their local rivals City have just accomplished.
But he doesn’t believe that the Red Devils were always pushed by a side who were just as good as them as Liverpool and Man City do today.
He said: “It’s hard work to the point whereby it’s hard for the managers to continue to keep demanding that level from the players both Liverpool and City.
“It’s hard for the players to keep coming back and doing it every single minute of every single day – I take my hat off to them because we (Manchester United under Ferguson) did, to be fair, win four titles in five, but I don’t think we were constantly pushed by a team that was as good as they’ve been pushed by.
“Great Arsenal teams pushed us, but this is a different level when looking at the points. It’s a different level.
“Their work ethic (City and Liverpool) is ridiculous. Honestly, it’s ridiculous.
“There are some hard-working teams in the league, don’t get me wrong, but the work ethic of those two teams, not only are they the most talented, but they’re the hardest-working teams in the league.
“When they lose the ball, they react better than any other team in the league. They’re unbelievable.”
