Another example: when he recently extended his contract until 2026, which was celebrated in Liverpool, he did without a salary increase, instead making sure that the money planned for him was divided between his assistants Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz.
So Klopp, the “Good Guy” in world football? His empathy is at least one of his great strengths. He knows that success is only possible in community. And he lives it.
Klopp’s crucial question ahead of his Liverpool move
Before moving to Liverpool in 2015, he explained what for him was the decisive point for the step abroad: the language. He must be able to give his words just as much impact in the new environment as in German. convey emotions. In English he dared to do that.
He had the sometimes merciless English tabloid press on his side right at his introductory conference when, when asked about José Mourinho, who describes himself as “The Special One”, he replied that he was “The Normal One”. His entertaining skills also worked right away on the island.
British journalists love him, even if they occasionally get the notorious Klopp rage. If they ask stupid or wrong questions from his point of view, things can get pithy. Here, too, Klopp is straightforward, does not pretend to be peace-loving. He is by no means “everybody’s darling”. He is too emotional and obsessed with success for that.
So what makes Klopp so special? From a purely technical point of view, when it comes to aspects such as game preparation and tactical changes during the game, there may be better ones than him. However, in order to make a football team as successful as possible, it is not enough to just understand the game best of all.
“Human catcher” is one of the attributes that are often mentioned in connection with Klopp. Unmistakable: Klopp can work with people, he scores in terms of social and emotional intelligence: working with people, understanding them, responding to them. Probably no top coach hugs his players when they come on, when they are substituted, after the final whistle, on the training ground – actually always – as warmly as Klopp. You could also say: Klopp hits the right note, which means his players score more often.
Nuri Sahin sums up Klopp’s secret of success: “What I love most about him is that he’s human. He touches you on a human level. Jurgen doesn’t lie. He is who he is. That’s one of the factors that make him so successful make.” What suggests that there is a lot of truth to this statement: among all the players that Klopp has coached in his twenty-year coaching career, this is not an isolated opinion.