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Agence France-Presse

Despite leaving Liverpool as one of the most highly regarded coaches in world football in 2024, Jurgen Klopp said he never thought of himself as among the game’s best.
“I never considered myself a world-class coach,” Klopp said in an interview in Leipzig, Germany, “because I still had so many questions when I finished.
“I was, like, ‘how can I be world-class with these questions still?’”
After starting out at German club Mainz, where he took the club to the top flight for the first time, Klopp moved to Borussia Dortmund, where he won two Bundesliga titles and reached the 2013 Champions League final.
After signing with Liverpool in 2015, Klopp’s Reds won every trophy on offer, including the Champions League and Premier League.

In his new role as Red Bull’s global head of football, where he oversees a multi-club structure with teams including RB Leipzig, New York Red Bulls and Paris FC, Klopp said that he wanted to help coaches answer those questions.
“My role with the coaches is to be the guy I never had. I sat in my office very, very, very often, very, very, very alone.
“A lot of people gave me advice and have great ideas … It’s great to have ideas, but it’s really not that easy to make the final decision.”
“I want to be in moments when I know they are alone, or feel alone. I want to be there.”
‘I never watch the goals back’
From taking Mainz to the Bundesliga to breaking Liverpool’s Premier League drought, Klopp improved clubs and players wherever he went.
Often taking over with teams at a low ebb, the coach would try to put things in perspective.
“How did I start a game?” he said. “I would say ‘the worst news is you can lose it’ – so let’s try and win it … Do not try to avoid defeat – try to win.”
The coach said he told his players: “Giving your all doesn’t mean you will get anything, but it’s your only chance to get something. That’s pretty much how you do it.
“We gave everything – and sometimes we got something.”
Klopp said that media and fans were too focused on results.
“I never watch the goals back, because I want to understand the game to the left and the right of the result. I want to understand why it happened.”
The 58-year-old said that he “didn’t take any pride” out of trophy ceremonies and parades.

“For me, it was the journey that I loved. That gave me much more than the moment [of winning].”
Klopp retains cult-like status at his former clubs, with fans remembering him for his sideline antics and everyman appeal as much as his successes.
Since stepping down at Anfield, the German has been linked to an array of high-profile coaching jobs, but said a return to the dugout was unlikely.
“It might sound arrogant, but I know I can coach a football team,” he said. “But I don’t need to do it until my last day.”


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Sport

Football

Despite leaving the club as one of the most highly regarded coaches in football, the German says he has never seen himself among game’s best


Despite leaving the club as one of the most highly regarded coaches in football, the German says he has never seen himself among game’s best.


German Bundesliga

Red Bull GmbH

Ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says ‘I never felt like a world-class coach’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Despite leaving the club as one of the most highly regarded coaches in football, the German says he has never seen himself among game’s best

Despite leaving the club as one of the most highly regarded coaches in football, the German says he has never seen himself among game’s best