Javier Mascherano says he is "surprised" by the speed and scale of Jurgen Klopp's evolution of Liverpool.
The Argentinean played for the Reds for three-and-half years after cutting short his unhappy spell at West Ham in early 2007.
Liverpool reached the Champions League final in Athens at the end of Mascherano's first half-season with the club, but that 2-1 defeat was the closest he got to picking up a trophy with the Reds, with Rafael Benitez's side finishing second in the Premier League in 2009.
A year on, and shortly after Benitez had been replaced by Roy Hodgson, Mascherano left for Barcelona in search of more honours, and ended up winning the Champions League twice.
It is Liverpool who are still the current holders though, and with the Reds primed to add the Premier League crown to their recent haul, Mascherano is full of praise for the job Klopp has done.
“The team that continues to surprise me with the evolution it has had is Liverpool," he told the press in Argentina, via Ole.
"It is clear that Klopp has put it together in his image and likeness. I am ten years behind, I see how we played with that Liverpool and [it has] nothing to do with what I see today.
“I have been following Klopp since he coached Dortmund, which was a pressing team similar to what Liverpool does today but now he has added a positional play share, before it was much more direct.
"That evolution is what I like because, in the end, it ends up being a more complete team.”
Mascherano left Barca for China in 2018, and these days he is back home in South America with Argentinean club Estudiantes.
