Jurgen Klopp to Liverpool: Jamie Carragher hails new manager appointment as 'real statement'

The former Reds centre-back also thinks the German coach can guide Liverpool to fourth place

Jamie Carragher is a pundit for Sky Sports (Getty Images)

Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool have made a "real statement" by appointing Jurgen Klopp as the club's new manager.

The former centre-back, who made 737 appearances for the Merseyside club over the course of his career, is excited by the arrival of the 48-year-old German, which represent something of a coup for his old team.

"This is a real statement from the club," Carragher said, in his latest column for the Daily Mail. "Two of Liverpool's previous three managers came from Fulham (Roy Hodgson) and Swansea (Brendan Rodgers) while the other - Kenny Dalglish - hadn't been in management for a long time.

"In the last five or six years there was a fear that Liverpool could not attract the absolute top players and managers, but if Barcelona or Manchester United had been looking for a new boss last summer Klopp would have been in the reckoning, so Liverpool have done very well to get him."

Carragher is so optimistic about the appointment, he believes his old club can overcome their poor start to the seasn and claim fourth place come the end of the season, perhaps at the expense of Jose Mourinho's misfiring Chelsea.

"At the start of the season few thought Liverpool had a chance of making the top four," he said. "It seemed hard to see past last season's quartet of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.

"But Chelsea's poor start to the season and continuing unrest will have them looking over their shoulders. There will be a slight fear around the top teams in the country that Liverpool could snatch fourth."

The Sky Sports pundit also believes Klopp's arrival at Anfield will be popular with supporters of other clubs.

The club's previous two foreign coaches, Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez, did not see the popularity they enjoyed on Merseyside stretch to other parts of the country.

Although they were loved by the Anfield faithful, Carragher believes Houllier and Benitez "just didn't have much charisma so the man on the street didn't warm to them."

"They were very successful at Liverpool but it is rarely recognised in the rest of the country as people didn't get them in the same way they did Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho."

"Klopp appeals to a wider audience than did Benitez and Houllier and I'm sure people up and down the country will have taken an instant liking to him," Carragher argues.

"He is not just an appointment for Liverpool but for the whole Premier League.

"When Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea the first time, I couldn't help watching him, eager to hear every press conference.

"Despite the fact we were competing against him in the league and those famous Champions League semi-finals, I developed a soft spot for him and I'm sure I wasn't alone.

"I imagine the same will happen with Klopp. People will hang on his every word. He can make Liverpool box-office again. Everyone will now be watching Liverpool."

Carragher also took the opportunity to metnion his rising status as a viral internet star, following his and Thierry Henry's reaction to the sacking of Brendan Rodgers last week.

The pair found out about the former Liverpool manager's dismissal live on air and their shock inspired thousands to share the clip on social media.

Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher are delivered the news

"I seem to have become an internet sensation this week after Thierry Henry touched my leg on Sky when we found out Brendan Rodgers had been sacked," he said.

"I wasn’t really aware of it at the time, I was just in shock at the news. But by the time I got home, everyone was sending round videos of it and having a good laugh.

"But I have a confession to make: the first time Thierry and I were on TV together, I grabbed his leg! So maybe he was just returning the favour..."

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