Yes, it's a long read, no, it can't be binnyed, it's a fucking interview. Take the five minutes it takes to read it & glimpse into our managers psyche FFS.
Jurgen Klopp throws open the door to his Melwood office.
“Oh, if I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have bothered having a shower,” he jokes, his booming laugh echoing down the corridor. “How’s the new job?”
The Liverpool boss is armed with a large bowl of fruit and yoghurt from the canteen. It’s mid-morning and he’s back at his desk after a week’s break in Cape Town with his wife Ulla.
Wearing a red New Balance hoodie, black tracksuit bottoms and white trainers, he looks refreshed and ready for what lies ahead as he takes a seat on one of the three cream sofas.
Klopp radiates positivity. In the space of four years he has transformed the club from one that had lost its way into the champions of Europe and the runaway Premier League leaders. No-one has had a bigger impact on Liverpool Football Club since Bill Shankly’s appointment 60 years ago.
Shrewd recruitment and the manager’s tactical acumen have been key but what’s most striking about Klopp is his man-management. Spending time in his company provides a fascinating insight into how he’s able to drain every last drop of both talent and effort from those he works with and the close bond that is fuelling their pursuit of more silverware.
“Mentality monsters” was how he described his Liverpool team towards the back end of last season and that resilience has been crucial in maintaining momentum as they look to add domestic glory to the club’s sixth European crown.
“How important is the mental side in football? It’s all, if you like,” Klopp says.
“You can have the best technical ability but if you aren’t ready to show it then you can’t make the best of it.
“It’s no different in football than it is in normal life. The first step to achieve whatever you achieve is to think you can do it. You want to do it, you want to achieve it then you have to find a way to go there.
“It’s constantly like question and answer, question and answer. Right, not right, trial and error. That’s how we do it and in football it’s no different. If you are a naturally confident person you take challenges like this. If you are naturally an insecure person then you are pretty much constantly afraid of failing.”
Liverpool, who have suffered just one defeat in their past 51 Premier League matches, keep on finding a way to win. A cherished victory over champions Manchester City prior to the international break put them eight points clear at the summit. Only Manchester United in 1993-94 have ever had a bigger lead after 12 games of a Premier League season.
Klopp’s men have collected 10 points from losing positions already this season — more than any other team. On the last seven occasions when they have conceded the opening goal, they have won six and drawn one.
Fitness is one factor but Klopp knows it goes much deeper than that.
“Of course it’s all about that,” he says, tapping the side of his head. “But you can’t just order it and then assume the boys will deliver it. If it was that easy then you could just tell them in the moment when you are 1-0 down with 10 minutes to play, ‘you still have to believe’.
“You have to create something and what we have created all together started long ago. People now talk about it but I already feel uncomfortable talking about it because I don’t take it for granted, not for one second. It’s not that I’m thinking five minutes before we go 1-0 down ‘no problem, you can score’.
“It’s happened more often than not that we’ve come back which is good, very good, but [we are] not allowed to take it for granted. It’s just that because it’s happened so often, psychologically it’s clear. If you do something good then it’s absolutely likely that the next time you do it, it’s likely that it will work out again.
“If you fail at something then you need to convince yourself ‘I can do it’. You have to at least see the chance that it can work out. That’s what the boys have worked for over the past four years. Everything is different now.”
Klopp’s impact on Liverpool’s mindset extends way beyond the dressing room. A fanbase has been energised and fortress Anfield has been rebuilt. Liverpool are unbeaten in 46 home league games dating back to April 2017 – the second-longest run in the club’s history.
It’s a far cry from four years ago when Klopp felt “pretty alone” at the sight of fans leaving early when his side trailed 2-1 to Crystal Palace in the closing stages.
“Just after I came in we spoke about why people leave the stadium early. I never understood it in my life but I can imagine all the issues with traffic,” he says.
“I did it myself when I went to watch games as a manager. I’d leave the stadium 15 minutes from the end and run to the carpark so I could get out. But as a supporter? I didn’t understand that. We had to work a lot on that.
“It’s just to convince yourself that it’s possible. The best way to convince yourself is by doing it and seeing that it works out. But if you try it and it doesn’t work in the first moment and you give up then you have a real problem.
“Do it again, again and again. That’s what happened here. It’s all about the mental strength in moments like this. It’s all about attitude and character. None of that is just given. It’s not like when we are born we are just given this character or this character. It’s all developed through the experiences you make through life.
“We have this story here that we’ve been writing for four years. Some of the players have been here for the full four years, others for less. They all realise that we can do what we do in a specific way because we get so much power from outside — from the club, from the crowd, from the history.
“We spoke about history when I came in and that it could be a burden. Now it looks like (claps hands), it feels more like a trampoline. You can jump and jump again. That all changed. How we changed it? I have no idea. We just worked since the first day on it because it was always clear that you need to create a mood where it’s easier to perform than in the mood the club was in when I arrived.”
Klopp’s squad is littered with examples of players who had to battle in the face of adversity and overcome difficulties to reach the highest level.
“Yeah for sure that helps,” he continued. “It means you learn to fight pretty early in your life. You want something that a lot of people would say is not possible. You have to stay stubborn and say ‘no, it is possible, I want to try it, I want to do it’.
“There are some players who everyone saw at the first moment and thought ‘oh, that’s so special’. But the biggest player in the world nowadays, probably Lionel Messi, when he was a kid he was pretty little so no-one thought he could get the physicality to be ready for professional football. Obviously, he made his way.
“That’s the story — it shows to everyone that it is possible. But without luck in decisive moments, you still have no chance. The right people need to see you in the right moments, in the right games to think ‘yes, I see something in him’. We are not completely alone responsible for our careers. We always need to get picked by people.”
There’s a shelf in Klopp’s office where a copy of James Milner’s new book ‘Ask A Footballer’ sits alongside pots of chewing gum and a couple of Liverpool FC branded caps. There’s also a DVD of BBC drama ‘Care’ written by Liverpool-born Jimmy McGovern.
On the opposite wall there’s a nod to past glories with a collection of black and white framed photos of Anfield icons Shankly and Bob Paisley. His desk which looks out over Melwood’s training pitches is at the far end.
With so much focus on the emotion and passion that Klopp brings to the job, the attention to detail of the man crowned FIFA Coach of the Year for 2019 is often overlooked. He prides himself on the marginal gains that have been made through the appointment of personnel like head of nutrition Mona Nemmer and throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark.
Klopp surrounds himself with specialists in their particular fields and The Athletic can exclusively reveal that Liverpool brought on board another one last summer.
Sports psychologist Lee Richardson has been working with the club’s players since July and has his own office at Melwood where he’s based for three days each week.
The former Watford, Blackburn Rovers and Aberdeen midfielder was recruited from Hull City by Liverpool’s medical rehabilitation and performance manager Phil Jacobsen.
Richardson had a brief stint in management with Chesterfield a decade ago before changing careers. He has previously been part of Sam Allardyce’s staff as psychologist for West Ham and then Crystal Palace.
During Brendan Rodgers’ reign, Liverpool secured the services of sports psychiatrist Steve Peters, who was credited with helping cyclists Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton achieve Olympic success.
However, that partnership ended shortly after Klopp’s arrival in 2015. In recent years Liverpool utilised the services of performance psychologist Yvie Ryan. A popular and respected figure around the club, she now works on a part-time basis with the academy teams in Kirkby.
“Now we have Rico,” Klopp confirmed. “He was a player, then a manager and then he studied sports psychology. He’s working for us which is great.
“He works very specifically with the boys and I have no idea what they are talking about. I am not interested. It’s just a nice add on.
“It’s just for us the next step. It’s difficult to find the right people with how I see it in that part of the business. Now we feel pretty good with him on board and that’s cool.”
Whereas Peters needed to feel that he was central to everything at Liverpool, Richardson is content with a more ad hoc role. Going to see him is purely optional for the players and he isn’t involved on match days.
It’s a better fit for Klopp’s style of management. In reality, when it comes to personnel delivering on the field, Klopp himself is Liverpool’s psychologist.
“I don’t know what the boys think but yes, I’m responsible for that,” he says.
“When it comes to performing, physical investment, stuff like this, how much they want to do instead of how much they have to do — that’s my job, that’s how I understand it.
“If that’s psychology, I have no idea, I’ve never thought about it like that. Of course, I must be influential in their thinking process.
“It takes time to create an atmosphere where players listen to you like that or where players tell you about some issues. My job is to watch them constantly and to find out what they do and why they do it. If I can understand why they do it then I can be influential. If I don’t know why they do things then I have no clue.
“That’s why I say when we win the players are responsible, when we lose I am responsible. That’s how I see it. If we lose then it means my message didn’t come across. It’s my job to make sure they understand it. For me to ensure they understand it, I need to know as much as I can about them.
Continued...
Jurgen Klopp throws open the door to his Melwood office.
“Oh, if I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have bothered having a shower,” he jokes, his booming laugh echoing down the corridor. “How’s the new job?”
The Liverpool boss is armed with a large bowl of fruit and yoghurt from the canteen. It’s mid-morning and he’s back at his desk after a week’s break in Cape Town with his wife Ulla.
Wearing a red New Balance hoodie, black tracksuit bottoms and white trainers, he looks refreshed and ready for what lies ahead as he takes a seat on one of the three cream sofas.
Klopp radiates positivity. In the space of four years he has transformed the club from one that had lost its way into the champions of Europe and the runaway Premier League leaders. No-one has had a bigger impact on Liverpool Football Club since Bill Shankly’s appointment 60 years ago.
Shrewd recruitment and the manager’s tactical acumen have been key but what’s most striking about Klopp is his man-management. Spending time in his company provides a fascinating insight into how he’s able to drain every last drop of both talent and effort from those he works with and the close bond that is fuelling their pursuit of more silverware.
“Mentality monsters” was how he described his Liverpool team towards the back end of last season and that resilience has been crucial in maintaining momentum as they look to add domestic glory to the club’s sixth European crown.
“How important is the mental side in football? It’s all, if you like,” Klopp says.
“You can have the best technical ability but if you aren’t ready to show it then you can’t make the best of it.
“It’s no different in football than it is in normal life. The first step to achieve whatever you achieve is to think you can do it. You want to do it, you want to achieve it then you have to find a way to go there.
“It’s constantly like question and answer, question and answer. Right, not right, trial and error. That’s how we do it and in football it’s no different. If you are a naturally confident person you take challenges like this. If you are naturally an insecure person then you are pretty much constantly afraid of failing.”
Liverpool, who have suffered just one defeat in their past 51 Premier League matches, keep on finding a way to win. A cherished victory over champions Manchester City prior to the international break put them eight points clear at the summit. Only Manchester United in 1993-94 have ever had a bigger lead after 12 games of a Premier League season.
Klopp’s men have collected 10 points from losing positions already this season — more than any other team. On the last seven occasions when they have conceded the opening goal, they have won six and drawn one.
Fitness is one factor but Klopp knows it goes much deeper than that.
“Of course it’s all about that,” he says, tapping the side of his head. “But you can’t just order it and then assume the boys will deliver it. If it was that easy then you could just tell them in the moment when you are 1-0 down with 10 minutes to play, ‘you still have to believe’.
“You have to create something and what we have created all together started long ago. People now talk about it but I already feel uncomfortable talking about it because I don’t take it for granted, not for one second. It’s not that I’m thinking five minutes before we go 1-0 down ‘no problem, you can score’.
“It’s happened more often than not that we’ve come back which is good, very good, but [we are] not allowed to take it for granted. It’s just that because it’s happened so often, psychologically it’s clear. If you do something good then it’s absolutely likely that the next time you do it, it’s likely that it will work out again.
“If you fail at something then you need to convince yourself ‘I can do it’. You have to at least see the chance that it can work out. That’s what the boys have worked for over the past four years. Everything is different now.”
Klopp’s impact on Liverpool’s mindset extends way beyond the dressing room. A fanbase has been energised and fortress Anfield has been rebuilt. Liverpool are unbeaten in 46 home league games dating back to April 2017 – the second-longest run in the club’s history.
It’s a far cry from four years ago when Klopp felt “pretty alone” at the sight of fans leaving early when his side trailed 2-1 to Crystal Palace in the closing stages.
“Just after I came in we spoke about why people leave the stadium early. I never understood it in my life but I can imagine all the issues with traffic,” he says.
“I did it myself when I went to watch games as a manager. I’d leave the stadium 15 minutes from the end and run to the carpark so I could get out. But as a supporter? I didn’t understand that. We had to work a lot on that.
“It’s just to convince yourself that it’s possible. The best way to convince yourself is by doing it and seeing that it works out. But if you try it and it doesn’t work in the first moment and you give up then you have a real problem.
“Do it again, again and again. That’s what happened here. It’s all about the mental strength in moments like this. It’s all about attitude and character. None of that is just given. It’s not like when we are born we are just given this character or this character. It’s all developed through the experiences you make through life.
“We have this story here that we’ve been writing for four years. Some of the players have been here for the full four years, others for less. They all realise that we can do what we do in a specific way because we get so much power from outside — from the club, from the crowd, from the history.
“We spoke about history when I came in and that it could be a burden. Now it looks like (claps hands), it feels more like a trampoline. You can jump and jump again. That all changed. How we changed it? I have no idea. We just worked since the first day on it because it was always clear that you need to create a mood where it’s easier to perform than in the mood the club was in when I arrived.”
Klopp’s squad is littered with examples of players who had to battle in the face of adversity and overcome difficulties to reach the highest level.
“Yeah for sure that helps,” he continued. “It means you learn to fight pretty early in your life. You want something that a lot of people would say is not possible. You have to stay stubborn and say ‘no, it is possible, I want to try it, I want to do it’.
“There are some players who everyone saw at the first moment and thought ‘oh, that’s so special’. But the biggest player in the world nowadays, probably Lionel Messi, when he was a kid he was pretty little so no-one thought he could get the physicality to be ready for professional football. Obviously, he made his way.
“That’s the story — it shows to everyone that it is possible. But without luck in decisive moments, you still have no chance. The right people need to see you in the right moments, in the right games to think ‘yes, I see something in him’. We are not completely alone responsible for our careers. We always need to get picked by people.”
There’s a shelf in Klopp’s office where a copy of James Milner’s new book ‘Ask A Footballer’ sits alongside pots of chewing gum and a couple of Liverpool FC branded caps. There’s also a DVD of BBC drama ‘Care’ written by Liverpool-born Jimmy McGovern.
On the opposite wall there’s a nod to past glories with a collection of black and white framed photos of Anfield icons Shankly and Bob Paisley. His desk which looks out over Melwood’s training pitches is at the far end.
With so much focus on the emotion and passion that Klopp brings to the job, the attention to detail of the man crowned FIFA Coach of the Year for 2019 is often overlooked. He prides himself on the marginal gains that have been made through the appointment of personnel like head of nutrition Mona Nemmer and throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark.
Klopp surrounds himself with specialists in their particular fields and The Athletic can exclusively reveal that Liverpool brought on board another one last summer.
Sports psychologist Lee Richardson has been working with the club’s players since July and has his own office at Melwood where he’s based for three days each week.
The former Watford, Blackburn Rovers and Aberdeen midfielder was recruited from Hull City by Liverpool’s medical rehabilitation and performance manager Phil Jacobsen.
Richardson had a brief stint in management with Chesterfield a decade ago before changing careers. He has previously been part of Sam Allardyce’s staff as psychologist for West Ham and then Crystal Palace.
During Brendan Rodgers’ reign, Liverpool secured the services of sports psychiatrist Steve Peters, who was credited with helping cyclists Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton achieve Olympic success.
However, that partnership ended shortly after Klopp’s arrival in 2015. In recent years Liverpool utilised the services of performance psychologist Yvie Ryan. A popular and respected figure around the club, she now works on a part-time basis with the academy teams in Kirkby.
“Now we have Rico,” Klopp confirmed. “He was a player, then a manager and then he studied sports psychology. He’s working for us which is great.
“He works very specifically with the boys and I have no idea what they are talking about. I am not interested. It’s just a nice add on.
“It’s just for us the next step. It’s difficult to find the right people with how I see it in that part of the business. Now we feel pretty good with him on board and that’s cool.”
Whereas Peters needed to feel that he was central to everything at Liverpool, Richardson is content with a more ad hoc role. Going to see him is purely optional for the players and he isn’t involved on match days.
It’s a better fit for Klopp’s style of management. In reality, when it comes to personnel delivering on the field, Klopp himself is Liverpool’s psychologist.
“I don’t know what the boys think but yes, I’m responsible for that,” he says.
“When it comes to performing, physical investment, stuff like this, how much they want to do instead of how much they have to do — that’s my job, that’s how I understand it.
“If that’s psychology, I have no idea, I’ve never thought about it like that. Of course, I must be influential in their thinking process.
“It takes time to create an atmosphere where players listen to you like that or where players tell you about some issues. My job is to watch them constantly and to find out what they do and why they do it. If I can understand why they do it then I can be influential. If I don’t know why they do things then I have no clue.
“That’s why I say when we win the players are responsible, when we lose I am responsible. That’s how I see it. If we lose then it means my message didn’t come across. It’s my job to make sure they understand it. For me to ensure they understand it, I need to know as much as I can about them.
Continued...
