Jürgen Klopp: Would You Go Back To Manage LFC...? The Real Reason I Fell In Love With Liverpool!

Jürgen Klopp (0:00)

It was an intense time. We had to win football games, but all the rest was on my plate as well. I need a break, and you cannot do that in that business. You cannot say, give me a year, see you later.

Steven Bartlett (0:11)

So it begs the question, do you think you could ever go back and manage Liverpool again?

Jürgen Klopp (0:18)

It's possible.

Steven Bartlett (0:19)

So what would it take? You change the club, you change the city, and you arrive at a time when clubs were in a period of dysfunction, to bring that club back to its glory. And you did that over and over and over again. How?

Jürgen Klopp (0:33)

To win in a very decisive moment, you have to be the best team, and to be the best team, everybody has to buy into that team and walk through fire together.

Steven Bartlett (0:43)

How do I get people to walk through fire?

Jürgen Klopp (0:45)

I better go back to the start. Growing up, my mom was very caring, she loved people, and my dad had expectations. The problem was, I was absolutely useless in most of the things, even with football. My teammates were better than me, and I thought, I only can get on that level, from the first to the last minute. I was a warrior on the pitch, but it made me the guy I am today. And so, my team plays a little bit more like a heavy metal band, because you have 90 minutes, and there's no guarantee to get anything, but the only chance to get something is to give you all. So, do you want to have the maximum success? Don't waste time with holding back.

Steven Bartlett (1:21)

I want to know why Manchester United didn't pursue you.

Jürgen Klopp (1:23)

No, they tried, but there are some reasons in that conversation which I didn't like.

Steven Bartlett (1:28)

Arne Slot coming in after you and didn't change much.

Jürgen Klopp (1:30)

That's super smart, not changing much, and all of a sudden you win the league by some distance.

Steven Bartlett (1:35)

But this year Liverpool have spent what, 450-odd million? You never had a transfer window like that.

Jürgen Klopp (1:39)

Nobody ever told me that it's possible that we can spend that.

Steven Bartlett (1:43)

You seem to always be successful. How does someone succeed you?

Jürgen Klopp (1:47)

You want to be able to become the best team in England? You need to.

Steven Bartlett (1:59)

Just give me 30 seconds of your time. Two things I wanted to say. The first thing is a huge thank you for listening and tuning in to the show week after week. It means the world to all of us, and this really is a dream that we absolutely never had and couldn't have imagined getting to this place. But secondly, it's a dream where we feel like we're only just getting started. And if you enjoy what we do here, please join the 24% of people that listen to this podcast regularly and follow us on this app. Here's a promise I'm gonna make to you. I'm gonna do everything in my power to make this show as good as I can now and into the future. We're gonna deliver the guests that you want me to speak to, and we're gonna continue to keep doing all of the things you love about this show. To understand you and the man and the anomaly that you went on to be in your career and still are, what do I need to understand about your very earliest context, where you came from? And how, can you point out to me how that very early context created the person you are today and that everybody knows you to be?

Jürgen Klopp (3:05)

I think we all are who we are because of the environment we grew up.

My dad was a salesman, and my mom came from a family. My grandpa had a brewery, and she worked there, and all these kinds of things. But her only purpose was her kids. She loved me more than her own life, definitely. And my dad had expectations. He loved me as well, but he had expectations, but my mom didn't. So my mom was just happy that I was there, and my dad had always something where he was not really happy with. And all the things my dad wanted me to do, I loved doing. So he wanted me to be a sports guy, each sport, tennis, skiing, football. That was his life. So he wanted that his son is good at that. And I loved doing it. If I would have been, I don't know, sitting at home and drawing or whatever, he would every day take me out and say, go outside and play something. But then pretty quick, when I became better, it was never good enough. And he always, so that was the process. So that's how I was brought up. That's him. That's definitely him. Yeah. Can I keep this picture? Of course you can keep it. That's good. Because I have them, but I'm not sure where. Yeah, exactly. Good looking guy.