Advises cautious World Cup goals
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Jürgen Klopp advises the German national team not to set too big goals for the 2026 World Cup. National coach Julian Nagelsmann has “a really, really great team, especially when the injured are all there,” Klopp told “Kicker”. “However, we should abandon the idea that if we take part in the tournament, we have to win the thing.” Nagelsmann had announced several times that he was aiming to win the title at the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
For the long-time Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool coach Klopp, the fixation on final success is incomprehensible. “I don’t know or understand the exact reasons why this should be the case and why we have to rethink everything if we are eliminated in the semi-finals or quarter-finals,” said the current head of football at Red Bull. “Other countries are simply too good for that, whether it’s France or Spain. Or England, who could have won more in recent years with what they have at their disposal.”
Klopp against specialist training and for the U21 league
The 58-year-old contradicted Eintracht Frankfurt’s sports director Markus Krösche, who said that Germany had too few specialists on the pitch. “I don’t believe it will help if we train specialists,” said Klopp. “My perfect full-back is a right winger who doesn’t score enough goals. My perfect eight is a ten who wants to work properly. My perfect six is an eight who also sees the big picture and enjoys duels.” It is much more important that more talent arrive in German professional football.
In this regard, Klopp reiterated his proposal for an U21 league in Germany in order to better support footballers in the transition from youth to adulthood. The top clubs have recently reacted cautiously to the idea. Klopp said that he was in contact with the leaders of the DFL and DFB. “The openness is absolutely there, but at some point the clubs also have to take part – all of them,” he emphasized.
In an interview with Steven Bartlett, the format “The Diary of a CEO”, Klopp revealed that he could one day imagine returning to Liverpool FC. At least he didn’t categorically rule out this possibility. “I said I would never coach another team in England. So that means if I were to return to England it would be Liverpool. Yes, theoretically it is possible.”
Klopp doesn’t want to be left out in the rain anymore – great joy at Red Bull
He doesn’t know exactly what could motivate him to return to Anfield Road. “I love what I do now. I don’t miss training. I really don’t.” He also doesn’t miss “standing in the rain for two and a half or three hours”, having to go to press conferences or “ten or twelve interviews a week”. Klopp has been working as Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull since the beginning of the year – and apparently with complete dedication.
“I was totally curious right from the start and today I would say: In the last nine months I have gained the equivalent of four years’ worth of experience. Everywhere I go it’s about getting to know new things. Starting with different cultures that have nothing to do with football at first, but of course influence football. Whether you’re in Brazil, Japan or the USA – the cultures couldn’t be more different. So that means: my palette “It’s huge now,” Klopp told Kicker. “I’m aware of what some people in Germany think about my involvement with Red Bull. But sorry: I just really enjoy this task.”