One year after his Liverpool departure, former Liverpool star Takumi Minamino has kicked off to a positive start this season.
Minamino took time off to hail his former boss Jurgen Klopp’s man-management skills as the former RB Salzburg attacker flourishes creditably one year on from his Anfield departure.
Minamino had been in a squad that featured both Erling Haaland and Domiik Szoboszlai and the Japan international earned a £7.25m January switch to Anfield from RB Salzburg following a scintillating display against Liverpool in the Champions League group stages of the 2019/20 campaign that made a deep impression on Jurgen Klopp.
The Japanese lad would then move on to spend two-and-a-half years at Anfield, winning a domestic trio of trophies before departing to sign for AS Monaco in a deal reaching £15.5m last summer. After signing for Les Monegasques, he endured a difficult first season in Ligue 1. 18 appearances returned a single strike and four assists, though he was not the only one to struggle as Philippe Clement’s team struggled to a sixth-placed finish.
Minamino’s important contribution of four goals and one assist in the earlier rounds of the 2021/22 League Cup will always be appreciated among supporters.
The manager has since been replaced by Adi Hutter, one of Minamino’s former bosses at Salzburg, a development which he has responded to excellently.
“I already knew his way of playing, so I tried right away to put it into action. We can see everyone gets his ideas. For instance, he gives us training plans in which his intentions and ultimate goal are always specified,” he told L’Equipe.
Minamino is now deployed as one of two support players behind a lone striker, and accounts for six goal contributions in five Ligue 1 fixtures so far. The Japan national credited his former coach at Liverpool, linking Klopp’s traits to Hutter’s in the way of how they both managed his own confidence.
“He always spoke with everyone, even with those who didn’t play,” the attacker continued. “For me, this is what makes him such a respected and fair coach towards his players. He manages to get everyone’s motivation intact, even the substitutes’.”