8 April 10, 2022The Sunday Times
Football
BVB BAY
July 2013
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Supercup4-2
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Supercup2-0
BVB BAY
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BAY BVB
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BundesligaBAY BVB
Nov 20142-1
BundesligaGuardiola at Bayern
Munich and Manchester City
Football
‘I
s Pep going?”
“Is Jürgen coming?”
When the Football
Writers’ Association was
arranging its Northern
Managers Awards dinner in
November 2019, Jürgen
Klopp and Pep Guardiola
each had only one question. Both
attended, because if the other was
there they weren’t going to miss it,
and on stage joked affectionately
about wanting to swap trophies,
Klopp being the reigning Champions
League winner, Guardiola the
Premier League title holder.
Four days later they met for dinner
in Manchester, and got matier still.
The occasion this time was a
League Managers’ Association (LMA)
gala evening at the Midland Hotel,
where both were inducted into the
LMA Hall of Fame. Guardiola wore a
sharp suit and neat waistcoat, Klopp a
more casual number plus black shirt
and trainers and they sat on the same
table with their wives as well as Gareth
Southgate, Sir Alex Ferguson and
Walter Smith.
On neighbouring tables were their
children and coaching staffs, and
German and Spanish food was on the
menu. When he arrived, Klopp had
made a beeline for Guardiola, patted
him on the back with a big smile,
kissed his wife, Cristina, on both
cheeks and posed for a selfie with
Guardiola’s daughter, Maria — taken
by Guardiola’s closest assistant, Man-
uel Estiarte.
Later, when they sat side by side for
a Q&A with Sky’s Dave Jones, Klopp
and Guardiola transfixed 400 fellow
guests — who included a number of
rival Premier League managers — as
they spoke about their careers, refer-
encing each other. Guardiola said: “As
Jürgen has said many times before,
titles are just like numbers, it’s the
emotion that people feel during the
90 minutes that they’re watching us
that’s the real reason we’re in the job.”
Klopp responded: “No, football
isn’t the most important thing in the
world — but for that 95 minutes it is.THE
GREATEST
They’re the best two managers in
the world, but Klopp and Guardiola
are still learning from each other
JONATHAN
NORTHCROFTFootball CorrespondentLike Pep, I feel very blessed —
especially tonight.”
November 2019, which also
included an afternoon together at the
Uefa Elite Club Coaches Forum in
Nyon, represents the high watermark
of the social relationship between a
pair who — now Messi and Ronaldo
are waning — form the greatest rivalry
in football. The LMA event made a
particular impression on both, Guard-
iola referencing it warmly in inter-
views, Klopp describing his counter-
part as “a good man, his missus and
the kids outstanding”. “When Jürgen
says nice things about Pep it’s not for
the cameras — he means them,” said a
source close to Klopp.
On Friday, speaking to both manag-
ers before their 23rd and most defin-
ing clash to date, their enthusiasm —
almost joy — in their rivalry was strik-
ing. Guardiola spoke of what he has
learnt from taking on Klopp. “I would
love to be there [in Liverpool’s train-
ing] to know him better. What I see is
there are a lot of ways we are similar.
Maybe in the final third [Liverpool]
are more bam! We are more pausa [a
Spanish/South American tactical con-
cept, akin to ‘putting your foot on the
ball’].”
Klopp, 54, imagined a future din-
ner with Guardiola, 51, when they’re
old and retired. “Maybe when we both
finish our careers we might meet
somewhere and sit together for hours
and hours and hours and just speak
about the different things we saw, in
this game and that game. It would be
interesting, no doubt about that,” he
said. “I really think we should enjoy
the ride because it is so special.”
For those raised on the English club
game’s previous manager-rivalries,
the love-in between Klopp and Guard-
iola is disorientating. There’s none of
the culture clash that existed between
Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, nor
petty needle Rafa Benítez and José
Mourinho went in for, nor the poison
between Don Revie and Brian Clough.The former Sunderland midfielder
Jan Kirchhoff says that to be a top
coach in today’s game, you must
be a “vehicle for players” – one
who connects and inspires them
(Jonathan Northcroft writes).
Gone are the authoritarians:
the best managers now are
charismatic teachers, and the 31-
year-old should know having
worked under Pep Guardiola,
Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel.
Kirchhoff, an assistant coach in
Stuttgart’s academy, started off as
a youngster under Klopp with
Mainz, before establishing himself
in the Bundesliga under Tuchel
(Klopp’s successor) then moving
to Guardiola’s Bayern Munich.
Klopp? “He can seem like a
movie star but on top of his
personality, he’s an amazing
coach,” Kirchhoff says. “Even
complex things, he’s able to break
down into simple sentences so it’s
easy to give him what he wants.”
Guardiola? “What makes him
better than everyone else, is his
ability to innovate. He’s the coach
who creates new systems, puts
players into different places, finds
new ways.”
It bemuses Kirchhoff that
Guardiola is often portrayed as
the aloof scientist in contrast to
Klopp, the ultimate passion-
bringer. “Pep is an unbelievably
passionate guy and was a loving
coach, who wants to give players
everything he’s got. That’s why
they follow him. He’s as emotional
as any other big coach and like
Klopp has a way of teaching, of
speaking to players that makes
things understandable.”‘PEP IS NOT ALOOF – HE
HAS JÜRGEN’S PASSION’RIVALRY
Klopp at Borussia
Dortmund and Liverpool BAYMay 2014^ BVB
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