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New Leeds United manager Sam Allardyce has said he is “up there” with any manager in the Premier League including Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp.
Allardyce, who replaced Javi Gracia, said he may look “antiquated” but is the equal of any manager in the league.
“I’m 68 but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep, not Klopp, not [Mikel] Arteta,” he said.
Allardyce’s task is to keep Leeds in the Premier League.
With four games remaining, they are only outside the relegation places on goal difference and face a daunting run-in with fixtures against Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham and Tottenham to come.
Of the timing of his appointment, Allardyce said: “Leeds have known where I am but it’s not materialised until now.
“The football club chooses which way it wants to go and far too many people think I am old and antiquated which is so far from truth.
“It’s all there with me. They do what they do, I do what I do. In terms of knowledge and depth of knowledge, I’m up there with them. I’m not saying I’m better than them, but certainly as good as they are.”
Allardyce’s side travel to face Guardiola’s City in his first game in charge on Saturday.
The former Everton and England boss said his tenure at relegation-threatened Leeds could be his “biggest challenge” in management because of the fixtures.
“We start with an easy one on Saturday,” said Allardyce. “It can’t get any easier than Manchester City away, can it?
“It is a big challenge that the players have to take on, that I have to take on, and we’ll go to Manchester City and do our best to get a result.
“It’s probably my biggest challenge because of the shortness of games that are left and the difficulty of those fixtures.”
