ImageGetty Imaghesexactly why, but it felt right. I knew that if they came for me, I’d really
want to do it. I only hoped it would be at the right time, because I
needed a holiday after managing Mainz and Dortmund. In the end, I
had four months off!
On THE EnGLISH LAnGUAGE
BISHOP After your break, you came to Liverpool. I remember your
first press conference and being struck by your command of English.
KLOPP It’s easy for you English guys – you don’t have to speak
another language! If my first language had been English, I wouldn’t
have learned a second one because you don’t need it.
English is the first foreign language taught in German schools, but
I was never very good at it. The next generation is really good. My
sons are now fluent without ever having lived here, probably because
of the English-language music they listen to.
My English is still not too good, but it’s good enough obviously to
send out my message. And I’m really interested in language because
I like to communicate. Before I came here, I listened to Talksport!
They talk unbelievable bulls**t, but I picked up English football terms
and heard different dialects – Scottish for sure, probably Irish. I
carried on listening when I got here; just half an hour on the way to
work and half an hour on the way back improved my language and
gave me a range of words.On LEADERSHIP
BISHOP So you arrived at Liverpool and, as you said, it was like a
garden that needed to be replanted. And, four years on, the club is in
a much better position. You are obviously a successful leader, but how
important are the people around you?
KLOPP This is my understanding: to be a really good leader, you need
to have enough confidence to have strong people around you. Weak
leaders always struggle with that concept because they can’t work
with people who might be better than them at a specific thing. I can
easily accept that. When I started my managing career at Mainz, I had
to learn everything about the job because we didn’t have a scouting
department, we didn’t have analysts, nobody helped me with training
or whatever. I did everything by myself, which means that I can really
appreciate and respect the work everybody does at Liverpool.
I want to have the very best around me. Everybody who works here
is better at their jobs than I would be. I think that I’m the only one at“TO BE A REALLY GOOD LEADER, YOU nEED
EnOUGH COnFIDEnCE TO HAVE STROnG PEOPLE
AROUnD YOU. I WAnT THE BEST AROUnD ME”
FourFourTwo.com The Managers 113JURGEn
KLOPP