There was a time when Jurgen Klopp, shaded from the searing California sun on the terrace of the palatial Four Seasons in East Palo Alto, was bowled over by the offer of bed and breakfast in England for £5.
Long before his breakthrough in professional football, something he imagined fanciful rather than actually possible, the 49-year-old explored the country via rail, securing free hostel accommodation by tidying his dormitory. Every so often, he’d part with a fiver to sample a ‘full English’ in the morning after spending a night in budget accommodation.
With a small bank balance, but a sizeable interest in the people and the language, Klopp was easily captivated. He travelled around for a month and concluded that in future, he wanted to survey England as a resident. “I couldn’t afford football tickets, but I bought an inter-rail card and travelled around for four weeks,” the Liverpool manager told Goal in an exclusive interview.
“What I loved most was the opportunity to have £5 bed and breakfast. Sometimes I slept in youth hostels, which was very funny. When I went in, they said ‘you have to clean the room’ and I thought they were crazy. But they said if you did it, you could sleep for free, so that was okay.
“It was a lovely time, of course the weather was not too good, but I love this country. I even loved the language, it didn’t seem too difficult, and I was interested in meeting new people and learning their ways. I always knew I wanted to live here if it was possible.
“Life took me a few places and gave me a few jobs. It wasn’t about where I could be, but about doing what I had to do, because I was a young father and needed to provide and all these kind of things.
“When I became a manager, it was clear that if there was a good opportunity in this country, to go for it. Now I’m here, it’s a very big honour and really I enjoy it.”
Klopp may have traded the discount digs for grandiose hotels, but his proclivity to absorb as much as possible remains. The German is still sharpening his knowledge on a daily basis as he continues his reconstruction of Liverpool, especially with the wisdom of those helping him reshape the Anfield outfit.
It has been evident during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States that the magnetic trainer, while enjoying complete control, counts on the expertise of his backroom team. He may be blockbuster, but it’s certainly not the Jurgen Klopp show at Liverpool, where collective responsibility extends beyond the players.
A snapshot of how training is conducted provides one such example. Andreas Kornmayer, the new head of fitness, leads the stretching and aerobic exercises while Pep Lijnders, the first-team development coach, oversees the passing drills. Zeljko Buvac comes into his own once tactical disciplines are introduced, which is also when Klopp switches into full-on teacher mode.
Peter Krawietz observes every little detail and steps in when he notices the habitual making of an error, while the goalkeepers work separately with John Achterberg at the start. The reliance continues through to the medical staff, performance analysts, nutritionist Mona Nemmer, and everyone else assisting with the first-team.
“I am lucky because I’ve had the possibility to bring the best people together,” explains Klopp.
“I’m not a one-man show. I was never that in my life, and I never want to be that. I know I’m more on television and I’m more recognisable than maybe even the players because they run and train, but I just stand there and my face does all these funny things that everyone can see all the time. I don’t want this attention and I don’t like it, but I accept it’s part of the deal.
“My job, first of all, is to watch everything because I need to know all the things that go on. You don’t see everything clearly when you are in the middle of the chaos, so I often stand a little bit on the side, because we’ve prepared the training together and everyone knows what they need to do.
“Zeljko is the best coach I’ve ever met, he is unbelievable, like a football book! Pep is in a very good way, heading in the right direction. He is young, with wonderful skill which will see him become a great coach in future, I’m sure. I was happy to bring in Andreas [from Bayern]. He has top experience, is really educated in his job and is a good guy as well.
“John Achterberg – more passion for goalkeeping is not possible! Pete – he’s watched I don’t know how many games in the last 20 years, he can tell you everything. He’s another who has to see everything, and so in total we have 10 plus eyes on things and then after training, it’s not over. We sit together and discuss what we’ve seen.
“When I started as a manager, I did everything – all the jobs alone – and it was the best school you could have. I learnt everything from point zero and that’s good. But today we don’t need that, we work together as a group who are very experienced, but are still very hungry to learn.
