https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport...jurgen-klopp-declares-andy-robertson-20064566
[article]A picture of Bill Shankly takes centre stage on the office wall, Liverpool’s Scottish godfather overseeing everything Jurgen Klopp does.
The charismatic German, however, has no problem working in the looming shadow of such legendary iconography.
He grins and says: “I love the Scots. Have done since 1974!
“They made a lot of fun in the World Cup in West Germany, all the guys in kilts dancing in ourfountains. I was seven, it was my first encounter with Scottish people, and I liked them a lot!”
His only regret with his current favourite Scot is that he didn’t have him earlier.
Andy Robertson isn’t just Klopp’s kind of player. He’s his kind of man.
Someone who took the path less travelled to the top. Someone who appreciates the true value of success because they know the bitter taste of failure.
It’s a story the 52-year-old can relate to entirely, the hard yards after rejection, the fight not only to retain belief in yourself but to find the right person and the right club who share it.
He went from being an average part-timer himself, working in video rental stores and loading lorries, to being one of the most lauded and visionary coaches of his generation, the same way as Robertson has gone from Celtic reject to Hampden ticket assistant and part-time amateur to, Klopp insists, the best left-back in Europe.
He’s the first Scot to win a Champions League medal in 22 years, since Paul Lambert did it with the Anfield manager’s old club Dortmund, and the first Scot shortlisted for FIFA’s annual World XI.
That’s a journey and a feat Klopp believes should make the 25-year-old a national treasure in his homeland and a cast-iron candidate for Scotland’s Sports Personality of the Year.
Klopp insisted: “Robbo’s an outstanding boy and I like the fact he has done it the hard way.
“Did he become better because of us? Yes. But did we become better because of him? Yes. It’s a proper win/win situation. And it’s been a pleasure to work with him from day one. He had some difficulties in the first three or four months to get in the team and settle but the potential was clear from the start, that’s why we signed him.
“What he made of his potential was up to him but his character, he never needed asked twice to do anything. He asked what he had to do to improve, and he just did it.
“With his natural strength on top, I honestly don’t know if there was a better left- back in Europe last year.
“And he has started this season exactly the same way.”
Robertson’s £8m move from Hull City to Merseyside now looks, in the space of two years, to have been one of the bargains of all time in the money-no-object world of the EPL.
Even in the context of where he was five years earlier, trying to reconstruct a career from the mental ashes of his exit from the Celtic youth set-up in Scotland’s fourth tier with Queen’s Park, a scenario Klopp still scratches his head trying to comprehend.
He said: “It’s so difficult to understand when you look at him now that anyone could ever have let him go.
“Left-back is such an important position and I don’t think in Scotland they have 500 of them, do they? So it’s hard to imagine how you can give up on a boy like this.
"It cannot be his personality or character. It cannot be his speed because he was always quick.
“It cannot be the quality of his left foot because it was always brilliant when he played for Hull and when I saw him play for Dundee United.
“So a left-back with speed quality and character? You have to keep him and work with him.
“Yes, he had to improve his defending when he came here but he did it because he has a big heart and all I can say is it would have been a joy for me if I’d met him earlier than I did.”
In a superficial world populated by chrome-sports-car-driving, multi-millionaire players who value image above reputation, Robertson is reassuringly grounded.
The kid from Glasgow’s south side has gone back to set up a partnership with his boys’ club, Giffnock Soccer Centre. He has volunteered at the North Liverpool food bank, once famously sending a young fan who had made a donation a signed Roberto Firmino shirt because “no-one wants one from the left-back!”.
Again, Klopp’s eyes light up because he sees so much of himself in the defender.
He said: “There were worse childhoods than mine but doing things the hard way helps you later in life, 100 per cent.
“I didn’t earn a lot of money when I was a player, and if I had I might have gone mad overnight, but you need to learn how to deal with certain things in life over time. It helps when you’ve had a different situation to deal with.
“It’s why Robbo’s such a humble person, so down to earth.
“We could talk about the positive things with Robbo for hours. If you want to talk about the negatives we’ll have to finish now because there are none.
“Could he be more confident? Maybe yes but when he’s with us he has that confidence, that belief.
“What he’s not is the type of character who wakes up, looks in the mirror and says, ‘Look at me, I’m Andrew Robertson…’
“He doesn’t live like that. There’s no arrogance to him, none at all. He’s just a well-educated, well brought-up boy and he comes from Scotland, all of which is good enough for me.
“He’s maybe the best Scot here since Kenny Dalglish, although Gary McAllister was a wonderful ambassador and player too.”
Klopp welcomed his squad back to work this week after the international break, familiar with every result and performance his players logged, good and bad.
While he is unhappy at Robertson shouldering the blame for defeats to Russia and Belgium, he has no fears that the internal pain the international skipper will be burdened with will affect him domestically.
The full-back set up a goal for Sadio Mane in yesterday’s 3-1 win over Newcastle. And Klopp said: “I can’t think of too many mistakes he has made but he’ll never make one because he’s not concentrating.
“Football is a failure-dominated game, it’s not easy when the ball is rolling, the pitch is wet, the wind is blowing, whatever, you cannot be perfect. But I honestly can’t think of a proper mistake he has made.
“So we don’t have to talk too much about the things. In training, we work a lot on tactics and he just gets it.
“In the rest of his life there’s not a lot to talk to him about. He’s a father of two, has a wonderful missus at home, he doesn’t give me any sleepless nights.
“But with Scotland and being captain, you have to be allowed time to grow.
“Ask Jordan Henderson how hard it is to be captain of Liverpool after Steven Gerrard. It’s not easy but Andy will grow for sure.
“The best thing about what we have done at Liverpool is having time to develop. We weren’t as good in the first year as we are now. Nor the second year.
“The third year we were nearly as good but we have developed and so has Robbo.
“Being a leader of a team which loses is not nice because you’re the one who ends up with the microphone in your face, having to explain why you lost.
“You have to do it though because, especially in Britain, captains take responsibility. The guy with the armband, your best player? He’ll take it all on.
“So you should be proud of him and what he has achieved.”[/article]
[article]A picture of Bill Shankly takes centre stage on the office wall, Liverpool’s Scottish godfather overseeing everything Jurgen Klopp does.
The charismatic German, however, has no problem working in the looming shadow of such legendary iconography.
He grins and says: “I love the Scots. Have done since 1974!
“They made a lot of fun in the World Cup in West Germany, all the guys in kilts dancing in ourfountains. I was seven, it was my first encounter with Scottish people, and I liked them a lot!”
His only regret with his current favourite Scot is that he didn’t have him earlier.
Andy Robertson isn’t just Klopp’s kind of player. He’s his kind of man.
Someone who took the path less travelled to the top. Someone who appreciates the true value of success because they know the bitter taste of failure.
It’s a story the 52-year-old can relate to entirely, the hard yards after rejection, the fight not only to retain belief in yourself but to find the right person and the right club who share it.
He went from being an average part-timer himself, working in video rental stores and loading lorries, to being one of the most lauded and visionary coaches of his generation, the same way as Robertson has gone from Celtic reject to Hampden ticket assistant and part-time amateur to, Klopp insists, the best left-back in Europe.
He’s the first Scot to win a Champions League medal in 22 years, since Paul Lambert did it with the Anfield manager’s old club Dortmund, and the first Scot shortlisted for FIFA’s annual World XI.
That’s a journey and a feat Klopp believes should make the 25-year-old a national treasure in his homeland and a cast-iron candidate for Scotland’s Sports Personality of the Year.
Klopp insisted: “Robbo’s an outstanding boy and I like the fact he has done it the hard way.
“Did he become better because of us? Yes. But did we become better because of him? Yes. It’s a proper win/win situation. And it’s been a pleasure to work with him from day one. He had some difficulties in the first three or four months to get in the team and settle but the potential was clear from the start, that’s why we signed him.
“What he made of his potential was up to him but his character, he never needed asked twice to do anything. He asked what he had to do to improve, and he just did it.
“With his natural strength on top, I honestly don’t know if there was a better left- back in Europe last year.
“And he has started this season exactly the same way.”
Robertson’s £8m move from Hull City to Merseyside now looks, in the space of two years, to have been one of the bargains of all time in the money-no-object world of the EPL.
Even in the context of where he was five years earlier, trying to reconstruct a career from the mental ashes of his exit from the Celtic youth set-up in Scotland’s fourth tier with Queen’s Park, a scenario Klopp still scratches his head trying to comprehend.
He said: “It’s so difficult to understand when you look at him now that anyone could ever have let him go.
“Left-back is such an important position and I don’t think in Scotland they have 500 of them, do they? So it’s hard to imagine how you can give up on a boy like this.
"It cannot be his personality or character. It cannot be his speed because he was always quick.
“It cannot be the quality of his left foot because it was always brilliant when he played for Hull and when I saw him play for Dundee United.
“So a left-back with speed quality and character? You have to keep him and work with him.
“Yes, he had to improve his defending when he came here but he did it because he has a big heart and all I can say is it would have been a joy for me if I’d met him earlier than I did.”
In a superficial world populated by chrome-sports-car-driving, multi-millionaire players who value image above reputation, Robertson is reassuringly grounded.
The kid from Glasgow’s south side has gone back to set up a partnership with his boys’ club, Giffnock Soccer Centre. He has volunteered at the North Liverpool food bank, once famously sending a young fan who had made a donation a signed Roberto Firmino shirt because “no-one wants one from the left-back!”.
Again, Klopp’s eyes light up because he sees so much of himself in the defender.
He said: “There were worse childhoods than mine but doing things the hard way helps you later in life, 100 per cent.
“I didn’t earn a lot of money when I was a player, and if I had I might have gone mad overnight, but you need to learn how to deal with certain things in life over time. It helps when you’ve had a different situation to deal with.
“It’s why Robbo’s such a humble person, so down to earth.
“We could talk about the positive things with Robbo for hours. If you want to talk about the negatives we’ll have to finish now because there are none.
“Could he be more confident? Maybe yes but when he’s with us he has that confidence, that belief.
“What he’s not is the type of character who wakes up, looks in the mirror and says, ‘Look at me, I’m Andrew Robertson…’
“He doesn’t live like that. There’s no arrogance to him, none at all. He’s just a well-educated, well brought-up boy and he comes from Scotland, all of which is good enough for me.
“He’s maybe the best Scot here since Kenny Dalglish, although Gary McAllister was a wonderful ambassador and player too.”
Klopp welcomed his squad back to work this week after the international break, familiar with every result and performance his players logged, good and bad.
While he is unhappy at Robertson shouldering the blame for defeats to Russia and Belgium, he has no fears that the internal pain the international skipper will be burdened with will affect him domestically.
The full-back set up a goal for Sadio Mane in yesterday’s 3-1 win over Newcastle. And Klopp said: “I can’t think of too many mistakes he has made but he’ll never make one because he’s not concentrating.
“Football is a failure-dominated game, it’s not easy when the ball is rolling, the pitch is wet, the wind is blowing, whatever, you cannot be perfect. But I honestly can’t think of a proper mistake he has made.
“So we don’t have to talk too much about the things. In training, we work a lot on tactics and he just gets it.
“In the rest of his life there’s not a lot to talk to him about. He’s a father of two, has a wonderful missus at home, he doesn’t give me any sleepless nights.
“But with Scotland and being captain, you have to be allowed time to grow.
“Ask Jordan Henderson how hard it is to be captain of Liverpool after Steven Gerrard. It’s not easy but Andy will grow for sure.
“The best thing about what we have done at Liverpool is having time to develop. We weren’t as good in the first year as we are now. Nor the second year.
“The third year we were nearly as good but we have developed and so has Robbo.
“Being a leader of a team which loses is not nice because you’re the one who ends up with the microphone in your face, having to explain why you lost.
“You have to do it though because, especially in Britain, captains take responsibility. The guy with the armband, your best player? He’ll take it all on.
“So you should be proud of him and what he has achieved.”[/article]
