Monday 9 October 2017 23:08, UK
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is under no pressure from the club's hierarchy and remains the "perfect" man to lead the club, according to former chief executive Christian Purslow.
Liverpool face Manchester United on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, knowing a defeat will leave them 10 points adrift of their rivals just eight games into the new season.
Klopp's side have struggled defensively since the start of the campaign, but Purslow expects the former Borussia Dortmund boss to be given plenty of time to improve results before the club's hierarchy begins to consider a change in management.
When asked how much pressure Klopp boss is now under at Anfield, Purslow said: "If you mean from his ownership, none whatsoever.
"He's two years into this job that looked to be perfect for Jurgen Klopp. There are great similarities between what he achieved at Dortmund, what he was expected to achieve - which was to compete with an absolute behemoth in Bayern Munich, while spending less money, both on wages and in the transfer market.
"That is the job description at Liverpool."
Klopp is yet to win a major piece of silverware since arriving at Liverpool in 2015 but Purslow believes the German is still the right manager to lead the team forward as they look to reclaim the title of England's most successful club.
"There are revenue differences between Manchester United and Liverpool," added Purslow. "Liverpool's are still superb but they are a fraction of Manchester United.
"And yet the Liverpool manager is expected to compete with United and beat them, exactly as Klopp did - winning two league titles in Germany against Bayern Munich with a fraction of their spending.
"He is perfect for Liverpool. It is an innately difficult project, to compete with less money.
"I think most Liverpool fans would feel that the team began under Brendan Rodgers with a very new, highly attacking, attractive way of football.
"There were question marks about them defensively and Jurgen hasn't addressed those completely but, in my opinion, the owners know exactly what the job description is. He is the right man for the job and that's going to take five years, not two years."
