Sadio Mane admits Jurgen Klopp can "be hard" with his players at Liverpool, and has joked that he is harder on Naby Keita than most.
The pair are old friends with their time together at Salzburg, with Keita joining Mane at Anfield in the summer of 2018.
Things haven't quite gone to plan for the Guinean midfielder due to a series of injury issues since then, but he has still picked up a Champions League winners' medal and is on the verge of becoming a Premier League winner too.
Keita joined Mane in discussing Klopp's methods in the new issue of the Liverpool FC magazine, and they heaped praise on the boss.
“He is somebody that is full of life, he is somebody who makes us all responsible as players, which is very important for a player on the field," said Mane.
"He is a coach who knows how to handle you off the field, too. Sometimes he can be hard with his players, but it’s for positive reasons and that’s helped us a lot on the field. It is quite impressive, in fact, if you got to know him to understand all of that.”
Keita added: “Yes, and he will always defend his players because for him all the players are the same. There is no difference to him. He’s always there to explain things to you, such as if you haven’t played the best in a game, which is hard for coaches to do.
"But that’s a choice he has to make and it helps us fight harder on the training field to push hard so you can be playing at the weekend.
"He communicates with us all equally and that’s what I really like about him. During training he will stop you and give you advice and explanations…”
It was at this point that Mane recalled Klopp's treatment of Keita.
“But if you lose the ball, he can certainly shout ‘Naby! Naby!’” said the Senegalese, to which Keita replied: “But that’s quite normal and he would also give you the same treatment!”
