“He is one of the best” – Pochettino feels Liverpool man who sent him ‘nice’ message after leaving Spurs could help Reds fight for all titles 

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has hailed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and revealed that he sent a nice message when the Argentine left Tottenham Hotspur.

Pochettino's five-year stint at Tottenham ended in 2019 when he was sacked after a string of poor results. The Argentine took a break from management and joined Paris Saint-Germain in January 2021.

He was then sacked by PSG last summer and has now been appointed as Chelsea's manager. Ahead of the Blues' 2023-24 Premier League opener against Liverpool on Sunday (August 13), Pochettino said about Klopp (via Football.London):

"He is one of the best, He was so nice when I left Tottenham, one of the best messages. He's doing a great job with Liverpool. Good and bad periods, but they really believe in him and give him the best tools to create a good team to fight for every title."

Klopp joined the Reds in 2015 after leaving Borussia Dortmund. He has led the club to seven trophies, including a UEFA Champions League and Premier League title.

He had a tough 2022-23 season, as the Merseysiders finished trophyless and fifth in the Premier League, failing to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. However, the club hierarchy has stuck with him and hope for a revival this season.

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp coy about new time-wasting rules

Time-wasting has recently become a big problem in football. To counter that, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar saw stoppage times in excess of ten minutes at times.

The Premier League is looking to bring in a similar rule in the upcoming season as well. Big stoppage times can be expected as evidenced by the Community Shield clash between Arsenal and Manchester City on August 6.

An eight-minute stoppage time helped Arsenal equalise as they won the game on penalties after it ended 1-1. Ahead of their clash against Chelsea, Liverpool manager Klopp said about the rule (via Liverpool Echo):

"It's difficult to answer. We have a 90 minute game. If we get to 55/60 minutes with the ball in play, we will see. It doesn't sound too difficult. We have too many competitions, too many games and having three or four minutes with the ball in play, I can't see it making a massive difference."

Many players like Raphael Varane and Kevin De Bruyne have spoken up against this change, citing an already hectic schedule for players.