Klopp's world

Do you remember the advertising spot in which Jurgen Klopp is the protagonist? The one in which it gets dark and the crew can no longer film because the light is gone, the Liverpool coach smiles in his car with his forty-two perfect white teeth, stating that he still sees a lot of light.

Now let us forget for a moment that in that case was magnified the presumed miraculous power of the headlights of a car; rather, the interesting thing is that, come to think of it, I can not think of any other manager in the world who could have taken part in that advertising gag. Nobody like Jurgen Klopp manages to convey that feeling, that there is still so much light available, even when no one else sees it. Never like this year his Liverpool, together with Manchester City, seems to be a candidate for the final victory and all the reds environment is more and more crazy about him, despite the Champions League final lost last year against Real Madrid. In a Premier League where Mourinho is definitely out of the game and in which Guardiola is now crushed by the weight of his own personality, Klopp at this time seems to be the most electric and fashionable coach.

We all know the story of Klopp: a modest career as a player with Mainz in the second division of Germany, closely followed by his debut as a coach for Mainz, while he was still a registered player. In 2008, the transition to Borussia Dortmund with which he won two Bundesliga, two German Super Cup and a German Cup (and a Champions League final, then lost against Bayern Monaco), bringing to the fore a square that in recent times had ended in shadow and that even today as I write, it enjoys the long wave of prestige that has been able to regain under his technical guidance.

The transition to Liverpool in 2014 was a clear manifestation of the fantasies of Reds' fans, hoping that the German manager would succeed in a similar process, in bringing back a national title that has been missing from of Anfield for about thirty years.Since he sat on the bench of the team, Klopp has convinced everyone, knowing how to improve significantly and visibly from year to year, until reaching a historic Champions League final last year and being the first in the league this year, which seems to be finally the right one to get back on the roof of England.

There are many technical and not elements that you can analyze, one above all is what especially in recent times is revealing more and more: the personality of Klopp, his communication skills outside and inside the field. Several snatches of press conferences by the Liverpool coach are now viral, and those of the Borussia Dortmund era are coming back into vogue. When he speaks, Klopp exudes empathy and intelligence, as well as an obvious sense of humor: in short, he is an excellent speaker. This quality is even more evident since his lectures are held in English, which is not his mother tongue, which forces him to be further clear and concise in explaining tactical and non-tactical concepts. In Premier we can compare it with other technicians: there is the indolent Guardiola, who always seems to do a favor to everyone in being besieged by the questions and suffering a lot at every conference; there was Mourinho, with his aggressive style on the verge of sociopathy; now we also have Sarri, who bases his communicative technique on humor and a sort of conscious submission.

Klopp, in a sense, brings all these qualities together without leaving none prevailing. It does not give the idea of ​​being bothered as Guardiola, but at the same time its punctuality and precision give the impression that it has no time to waste, in a way that is not as annoying as that of the Spanish technician, but that makes us almost feeling guilty about stealing time from that smiling man. Like Mou, Klopp knows how to make fun of journalists at the right time, but without mortifying them, always maintaining an air of affability and an energy that never turns negative like that of the former Man United coach. It is instead close to Sarri for the use of humor, this is often in the Tuscan technician an instrument to get out of complicated situations, from which even for the little linguistic mastery he would not know how to get out otherwise, in Klopp he is an instrument of "power" "on the interlocutor, it is often a pungent irony that displaces journalists.

These modes of communication are proven to be part of the environment that Klopp knows how to create in his dressing room, in which the players come to trust him blindly and vice versa.

The "assembly line" of a Klopp team seems to be just that: knowing how to conquer the locker room, inculcate the tactical dictates, bring everything to an excellent level. Yes, because without the ability to empathize with their players (but also collaborators, environment and fans) first as a person and as a technician, it would be very difficult to then request the effort and patience necessary to put into practice his football, physically exhausting and that requires a team compactness and between departments that can not be present only when playing, but that must be created during every single workout and not in a few months, but also in years. In 2008, Klopp put a very strong focus on a pair of nineteen-year defense centers, Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels, turning them into safety. Subotic claimed that 'Klopp gives players respect and confidence'; The words of the Liverpool legend Emil Exit are even more eloquent "I think players nowadays prefer a kind of loving manager, and he really knows how to get the best out of the players like this: Klopp seems to know how to do it better than the others manager"; then there is Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has identified in the figure of Klopp one of the main reasons for his transfer of about a year ago from Arsenal to Liverpool: "The thing that has stood out for me was his relationship with the players , how close it seems to bind to the players inside and outside the field: it's definitely a great thing and a great advantage when you're trying to progress, having this relationship with the manager definitely helps. 

The same words of the German trainer describe better than anyone his ability to maintain balance between two worlds in apparent contrast and impossible to reconcile: that of the figure of the manager as charismatic leader and that of the paternal and comprehensive figure: "We have a relationship, a business relationship, where I am the boss and they are my employees, so to speak" he said before last year's Champions League final at the UEFA site" But football should not work this way, because after all it's I am a person, I want to have a close relationship with them, because I want to understand them, I want to know why things happen, I am grateful to them for what they have achieved, which is why I am so grateful and told him. We have come together here, that's how I want to be understood too.We will go all the way together: this is the plan. "

Elmar Neveling, author of the first biography on Klopp, released in 2011, defined (in this interview) the man who grew up in a black forest village not only as a great coach, but also one who "has a contagious laugh and is capable to tell anecdotes in a funny way. Also as an entertainer would have good chances. He has a particular sensitivity in addressing each player. Jürgen not only has a great knowledge of the Game, but also knows how to transmit it very well. For example when, at the presentation as a manager of Liverpool, he said: 'I am the Normal One'. A lie, because Klopp is absolutely not an ordinary technician. "And again:" He is a Menschenfänger, one who catches people, one who believes what he says. The players follow him. 'Everyone runs for him and gives the maximum on the field so as not to disappoint him,' explained Subotić. Pepijn Lijnders, an assistant to Klopp, told another aspect of the work of the German technician to the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant: 'Jürgen creates a family environment. We always say: 30% tactics, 70% team building. "

His communication skills and intelligence have also allowed him to express himself in territories far from football, for example political ones. During an interview with Channel 4 News, he spoke on Brexit in an unexceptionable and extremely shareable way:

He then stated that he could never vote right; the most interesting thing of all is that Klopp associates his political faith with his way of being, with the fact that he really cares for people. In other words, it makes it a question of humanity, but always keeping a lucid and rational thought, never letting pure emotions be transported to the sun.

It is exactly what is reflected in the field in his teams or how we perceive his figure on the sidelines: heart to no end, incredible intensity and warm blood, balanced by tactical organization and discipline. A formula difficult to get but that Jurgen Klopp is managing to carry on for years now with continuity upsetting and perhaps not appreciated enough.