Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted he watches another league “so often” despite managing in the Premier League.
The 56-year-old has been in charge of the Reds since October 2015 and will leave at the end of the season.
He ensured he will bow out of his final campaign with a trophy after winning the Carabao Cup against Chelsea on Sunday, describing the triumph as “the most special”.
Attentions now turn to the FA Cup, with Liverpool hosting Southampton in the fifth round at Anfield on Wednesday.
And prior to the clash, Klopp revealed that he has a great admiration for the Championship.
As a player, the German spent the bulk of his career in the 2. Bundesliga and described the English second tier as “incredible” – praising the intensity of the league and hailing Leicester, Leeds, West Brom and their next opponents, Southampton.
He told a press conference: “I love the Championship. I watch it so often. I watched last week Leeds vs Leicester. Wow. The football is played at an intensity in the Championship that is absolutely insane.
“I saw West Brom playing recently, a real football playing idea. Leicester obviously, Southampton obviously have a real football playing idea.
“The league is incredible, it’s incredibly difficult. We have a lot of games in the Premier League but in the Championship we obviously have a few more. [It’s] quite impressive what’s going on there.”
Liverpool are in the midst of a huge injury crisis at present, with the latest blow being Ryan Gravenberch after he was stretchered off following Moises Caicedo’s poor challenge in the cup final.
He joins the likes of Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara, Curtis Jones, Stefan Bajcetic and Diogo Jota on the sidelines, though Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai have been training.
Giving an injury update, Klopp explained: “Ryan is not available. It could have been worse, but it is bad enough to rule him out of this game and the next game. We shall see.
“We need miracles for a few players, so I don’t want to rule them out for too long. But it is touch and go with a lot of the boys who were not available for the final.”
