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| Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp insists people must be patient if they want to see success at Anfield |
JURGEN KLOPP would like it to be known that, contrary to the belief of The Kop, he wouldn’t be able walk across the Mersey.
Apart from the reincarnation of The Beatles it’s difficult to comprehend an event in these parts which could outdo the hype and hysteria which has surrounded the 48-year-old German’s coronation as Liverpool’s latest team boss.
We are plainly in the age of the personality manager but the build up and actual coming of the Anfield chosen one has taken the era to new staggering levels.
Klopp is portrayed as the biggest showman since Barnum but get up close and personal to the former Borussia Dortmund boss and the veneer is quickly stripped away.
He has arrived, albeit on a more than generous package which could be worth £7million a year over the next three seasons, to get his head down and work.
Quite simply Klopp has been embarrassed by the frenzied attention, the paparazzi chase from the airport to his city centre hotel, the snatched pictures inside his temporary base.
“Expectations are important in life, not only in football.” he admitted. “But after this first big hype then we can all cool down and talk about football. But I cannot change what has happened today.
“It was not my idea to make me go into hiding, people taking photographs in the bathroom, or whatever.
For so many years all the Liverpool fans have been waiting and I understand they have lost patience but it doesn’t work without (patience).
“They are all happy. ‘Jurgen is here’ they are saying and everything will change. Some things will change for sure because I’m different to other managers but we can’t change the whole world in one day.”
Some previous managers, the recently sacked Brendan Rodgers amongst them, have bemoaned the depth of criticism from the legion of former Liverpool players and bosses in the media. Once the daggers are in they are hard to remove.
Klopp insists the biggest critic of his work is himself. He added: “I criticise myself so I don’t need it from outside. I don’t feel all my decisions are perfect but you have to make decisions in football before you know if they work.
“If the media want to see Liverpool have more success than in the last 24 years then it can play a small part.
“But if they want me to be like Jesus and then the next day say I can’t walk on water then we have a problem. I can’t walk on water but I can dive.”
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| Klopp agreed a £7m-a-year contract to become manager at Anfield |
In other words he acknowledges that you can be a hero one day and the villain the next. That’s the nature of football world wide.
He is a players’ man, able to spot a talent and squeeze the last ounce of effort and skill from his charges.
It’s why after Friday’s media introduction – staged opposite the new imposing Anfield main stand which when completed will soon gaze down on the Klopp reign – he raced to the Melwood training complex.
The rest of Friday, yesterday and today has been consumed with endless hours of watching videos and meeting those at the nerve centre of the club.
He has cancelled tomorrow’s day off for the players as he touches base with those not away on international duty.
His eyes light up when he is asked what does he look for in a player.
“I look for character – the will to improve. It is not important who is the best player in the world today. It is more important who is the best player in the world tomorrow.”he said. “We can work on this.
“I have had some not so bad players. The biggest satisfaction you can get is to take a player from a small club, say in Poland (Robert Lewandowski) and watch him today and think about the difference. It is unbelievable.
“If the players are top level and they can hold it for two, three or four years and they are 31 until they reach 35 then that is perfect.
“But the young guns are very interesting. When I manage a club each young player should smile because they have a big chance. They should smile because the door is pretty wide open.”
Klopp has enjoyed his four month break – a period to recharge the batteries. “I am 48. Most of the time in my life I had no money for a holiday and then when I had money I had no time for holidays.”he stated.
After winning two championships with Dortmund and taking them to a Champions League final he didn’t have the motivation to continue after the end of last season.
“I only had the break because I didn’t want to go from a cup final on the Sunday to sitting in a hotel room somewhere in the world on the Monday and build a new team.”he explained.
Then it was a case of waiting. Klopp said: “I had no list. It wasn’t a case of ‘if they call, if they call if they call’. If someone wanted me then I would see how I felt.
“Then Liverpool called me and it was a good moment for me and my family. My two sons are crazy about football. They watched Borussia play here against Manchester United and know everything about Liverpool.
“It is a good feeling for me.”
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