Above xxxxxx
xxxxxx xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxthe moment who can bring them all together, which is why I’m
important. We brought Pep Lijnders back to the club to be the
assistant manager. We brought Mona Nemmer over from Bayern
Munich to be the head of nutrition. We brought a physiotherapist
from Germany because I’m yet to fully understand how English
physiotherapists work. It’s a completely different job to mine; they are
more like doctors than masseurs.
That’s all that I had to do to build the team, and we then created
such a positive atmosphere here at Melwood by inviting all the staff
to go to Tenerife with the players. And to bring their missus, their
husband, their kids, whatever. We’ve done it three times now; the last
time I think there were 90 adults and 50 kids. LFC pays for a decent
hotel and they have a phenomenal holiday with brilliant weather. It
creates an atmosphere and brings everyone together.
Football clubs often talk about the team behind the team, but it’s
not just words here. Everyone who works for the club knows that they
are important. Of course, they can’t score a goal or keep a clean
sheet, but they are unbelievably important to the day-to-day running
of the club. Hopefully you felt that a bit when you were having lunch
earlier today in the restaurant here. They’re nice people and are close
to each other.
On CHRISTIAnITY
BISHOP Is your faith part of the bedrock that gives you that
confidence?
KLOPP I never think about it like that. In a press conference, I’ve
talked about being judged by God one day and that is how I
understand it. I’m prepared for it. I don’t do bad things. I don’t harm
or hurt anyone. With my players it’s sometimes different. Maybe
they’re not in the squad or I have to sell them. It’s the hardest part of
my job. But if we lose a game, judge me, no problem.
So yes, being a Christian means for me, in very simple terms,
making the place you work in a little bit better. Don’t think only about
yourself. We are all selfish, but don’t be too selfish. If I come into a
room and the mood is average, but then it drops the moment I step
through the door, something is obviously wrong. That should not
happen if you are open to talking to other people. Don’t do what you
want all the time, do what you have to do most of the time. It’s really
not that difficult.
I am not a priest. I don’t go and tell people what they have to
do and how they have to live. Christianity, as I understand it, is a
good thing.
BISHOP Your summary of Christianity is to behave how any
reasonable person would surely want to behave: do no harm and do
your best.
KLOPP Yeah, I think a lot of people are like that, actually. But they
MARCH 2013
FFT went behind the scenes and on
the road with Borussia Dortmund, to
deliver the definitive account on
how Klopp had managed to turn a
mid-table team into Europe’s
hottest club. And it happened just
as Dortmund were about to stun
Real Madrid in the Champions
League semi-finals thanks to four
goals from Robert Lewandowski.
BVB were denied glory by Bayern
Munich at Wembley.MAY 2015
With impeccable timing, award-
winning FFT contributor Uli Hesse
revealed why things had all gone
wrong for Jurgen at Dortmund.
Hesse predicted that the gaffer’s
successful seven-year reign at the
Westfalenstadion was about to end
and that he would look to England
for his next managerial post. A week
later, Klopp confirmed he would
be leaving Dortmund at the end of
the campaign.JURGEn KLOPP In FOURFOURTWO
The cover stories that charted the rise, fall and rise again of Liverpool’s coach. Boss Tha!
aren’t asked why they’re like that. In my position, I get asked about it
and so I share my view, and that’s it.On TOUCHLInE AnTICS AnD GUARDIOLA
BISHOP Why do you stand on the halfway line watching the other
team warm up before games?
KLOPP I see my team all week long, so I don’t need to watch them
warm up. Before the game, you will get the opposition’s line-up, but
you don’t know the formation they will play. Sometimes, when they
are warming up, they will play in that formation. You can find out if
they are going to play with four at the back. Sometimes they play
with three or five at the back, but if the last line is made up of four
players during the warm-up, that is probably how they will play.
I will stand there to get as much information as I can, but also to
get a feeling for the other team. That’s the truth – I want to get a
feeling. When we played against Dortmund in the Europa League, I
knew that it would be awkward for my former players if I did it. It
didn’t stop me! As I watched them, they could look and see that I was
really there. That was the first small victory of the night.
BISHOP It’s like a manager’s version of boxers at the weigh-in – it’s
that stare-out, isn’t it? And it’s a real sort of statement of intent.
KLOPP When the players come really close to me, it’s kind of
awkward, but I’m used to it. I know they’re thinking, ‘What’s he
looking at?’ I can hear the opposition’s assistant managers shouting
at all their players to turn away from me. I’m not trying to be
intimidating; I’m just interested in what the other team’s players
are doing.
BISHOP You’ve been pulled up for being so passionate on the side of
the pitch. As a supporter, you want to see players play how you would
play and the manager manage how you would manage – and you
manage how I would manage.
KLOPP [Raucous laughter]
BISHOP Can you ever imagine just sitting and watching?
KLOPP Yeah, I think it would be possible in the future. I’m already
much calmer than I was. I know it’s difficult to believe, but really, I’m
already completely different. The thing is, I talk to the players allRight Watching
his old Dortmund
charges warming
up in April 2016114 The Managers FourFourTwo.com
JURGEn
KLOPP