The West Bromwich Albion manager, Tony Pulis, believes foreign coaches such as Jürgen Klopp are seen as “sexy and bright” in comparison to their British counterparts. Pulis’s comments follow those made by Sean Dyche in August, when the Burnley manager said he felt he was criticised for using the same high-pressing style and formation as Klopp and Claudio Ranieri at Leicester City. Dyche added that young English managers are portrayed as “dinosaurs”.
West Brom host Burnley at The Hawthorns in the Premier League on Monday evening with both teams in search of back-to-back victories. Before the match Pulis shared Dyche’s frustrations over the manner in which British coaches are regarded.
“That’s the way it is. They come into the country, they’re sexy, they’re new, they’re bright,” Pulis is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail. “That’s fine, brilliant, not a problem for me.
“I’ll listen to them, they say Klopp trains them three times a day in pre-season, absolutely amazing. I’d never have thought of that. That’s what Sean’s on about. They do stuff that is astonishing, that we’ve ‘never heard of’.”
Nacer Chadli is a doubt for West Bromwich Albion while the striker Saido Berahino is expected to miss the match on Monday after returning to a conditioning camp in France as he struggles to regain fitness after what he has called a “period of turmoil”.
“This last year has been the most difficult of my career and it has left me short of the form and fitness required for the Premier League,” said Berahino, heavily linked with a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur over the past 12 months.
“I have never been a player who lacked confidence or a belief in himself but that has been where I have found myself and it has hit me hard.”
