article by Tony Barrett of The Times
"All for one: Jürgen Klopp’s genial plan to improve Liverpool."
DECEMBER 20, 2015. Liverpool have lost 3-0 at Watford and morale is low. Plans for a Christmas party to be held at the luxurious Formby Hall that night appear at best unlikely, at worst unsustainable. Throughout the squad, the expectation is that the event will be cancelled. Suddenly, mobile phones belonging to players and staff members begin buzzing. The incoming message contains a single line: “Whatever we do together we do as well as we can and tonight that means we party.” If the contents of the SMS were significant, so too was the identity of the sender - Jürgen Norbert Klopp.
What followed has come to be seen by those present as one of the most revealing into Klopp’s character since becoming Liverpool manager in October. While others might have opted to postpone the festivities or attend but remain low key before sloping off in the darkness, Klopp placed himself at the heart of all and turned the night into a memorable one for all involved. If his speech at the start of the evening set the tone as he told everyone that he didn’t care whether or not they drank or not as long as they stayed with friends until at least 1am, his antics on the dancefloor helped ensure nobody wanted to leave as the festivities continued into the small hours.
Along with his wife, Ulla, Klopp danced with anyone else who was willing, from the Anfield grounsdmen the to travel staff responsible for overseeing Liverpool’s European trips. The Klopps were not just at the party, they were the party with their willingness to mingle and entertain leading to a series of memorable dance-offs to end the night. On other occasions, the players, many of whom are teetotal and professional to the nth degree when it comes to preparation, would have come up with a reason to depart early, particularly after such a demoralising defeat, but not this time. They might only have been drinking apple juice or water but the mood was so intoxicating that beer was not required.
As an insight into how Klopp operates this is not an exception, it is the rule. The jovial, self-deprecating character who wisecracks and smiles his way through press conferences is the same one that Liverpool’s players see on a daily basis. In many ways, he is the ultimate what-you-see-is-what-you-get manager, an individual of unshakable self-belief who views himself as the fulcrum around which everything else at the club turns. It is all about him but then it is not about him at all as regardless of his status, role or fame, Klopp’s entire managerial being is built on the principle of togetherness. To borrow and manipulate a Shankly-ism, his idea of football involves everyone working for the same goal and everyone having a share in the rewards.
That was the message Klopp delivered on his first day at Melwood, Liverpool’s training ground, after succeeding Brendan Rodgers. After the club’s staff were asked to assemble in a reception area adorned by the European Cup that was won in Istanbul, the first team squad were invited into an adjoining meeting room. Sat at the top table in the same room, Klopp then invited his new work colleagues in and they filed past him one by one, each stopping to introduce themselves and let him know what role they fulfil. No-one was left out. From Carol and Caroline, the unstintingly helpful canteen staff, and Kenny and Jimmy, the well respected gatemen, to Dr Andrew Massey, the club doctor, and Michael Edwards, the head of technical performance, everyone at Melwood took part.
In one respect, it was a simple meet and greet, the kind of ritual that many new bosses perform but Klopp had an ulterior motive. Turning to his players, he told them: “All of these people are here to help you, they are here for your benefit. When you have support like this you can have no excuses.” A presentation followed, one which captivated the room. Rodgers’ first meeting three years earlier had been impressive in its well rehearsed execution using Powerpoint, but this was on another plane. Off the cuff and from the heart, Klopp hammered home his own points. “Melwood is
,” he said. “Nothing is more important than this place.” After accentuating the need for togetherness and for the training ground to be a place of work, he then delivered the keynote line: “Everyone is responsible for everything.” Had a pin been dropped, it would have been heard. A new mentality was being established.
A key part of that ultra-industrial approach was that Melwood, while not totally off limits to the players’ wives and families, had to become less welcoming. At the right times and in certain circumstances, Klopp wants the training ground to be all-embracing but other than those occasions, he wants it to be a place of work where the outside world can be shut out as much as possible.
This isn’t about forging a siege mentality or a feeling that it is Liverpool against the world, it is about the players and staff being as one, inspiring one another and helping each other for as long as possible on every working day.
To that end, breakfast has been made compulsory on match days, whereas in the past players would have joined up for a pre-lunch walk, and the start of training has been put back to afternoons to allow them to be together for longer than is generally the case in English football.
Again, this is all about accentuating togetherness. Again, Klopp is at the heart of it, just as he was on the dancefloor at Formby Hall. Although players and management sit separately on matchdays, on routine training days the players have become accustomed to their manager, either wearing Converse trainers, jeans and a jumper or a club tracksuit, sitting amongst them, talking about the previous night’s TV game, family life or current affairs.
They have also gotten used to having a manager who is as likely to put them in a playful headlock as he is to put his arm around them, his openness and preparedness to communicate with anyone and everyone adding to the sense that Klopp is the “Normal One” that he describes himself as.
Away from the first team squad, Klopp has immersed himself in pretty much everything in the 20 weeks that he has been manager. From meetings with New Balance, Liverpool’s kit suppliers, about next season’s training kit, to consulting regularly with the club’s commercial department about the forthcoming pre-season tour of the United States, the German is heavily involved. He has struck up an immediate rapport with Liverpool’s recruitment department, holding discussions with them three or four times per day and even more regularly in the days building up to Joel Matip, the Schalke defender, signing a pre-contract last month.
If there is a frustration, it is that Klopp has not yet been able to put his full stamp on training because of Liverpool’s hectic schedule. His first session had been memorable for the effect it had on the ten players he had at his disposal as one, Joao Teixeira, vomited and two others ended up doubled up in pain.
The fitness work that Klopp feels is necessary to play “full-throttle” football will begin in earnest in the summer. Until then, rest and recovery are considered more important as he ensures his new charges are not broken by a training programme that is renowned for its physical intensity. There have already been some notable adjustments – the small-sided possession based training games that Rodgers preferred are now less ubiquitous with Klopp prioritising practice matches on the full pitch to prepare for fixtures – but the big changes will have to wait.
The new regime is not only taking a toll on the players. Upon his return from training to his family home, a property on Formby’s affluent Victoria Road that he rents from Rodgers, Klopp has taken to having power naps to counteract the mental tiredness that is brought on by conversing in English rather than his mother-tongue in his work environment.
That Formby base, which he shares with Ulla and the two sons, Mark and Dennis, that the couple have from previous relationships, whenever they visit from Germany, serves as both sanctuary and social centre. In whatever spare time that Klopp’s job affords him, husband and wife are regularly seen dining at the town’s restaurants and walking in the nearby woods and beach. Without fail, they are accompanied by their dog, Emma, a retriever-cross named after Lothar Emmerich, the legendary Borussia Dortmund striker.
Though protective of his family time, particularly when with Ulla, who taught children with special needs in Germany, Klopp has become used to the demands of a public which adored him even before his arrival. Requests for photographs are granted, albeit with the inevitable reluctance of someone who cherishes his private life, and autographs signed for supporters who gather at the gates of Melwood when Klopp arrives each day in a sponsored Vauxhall Omega. Having worked with him for so long, Peter Krawietz and Zeljko Buvac, Klopp’s long serving assistants, have become extensions of his family since arriving on Merseyside and the trio are seen regularly playing darts, table tennis and various other pub games when out and about in Formby.
The competitive streak that the trio share has helped take Liverpool to Wembley for the Capital One Cup Final against Manchester City. Their will to win, though, has also led to a change of plan. Instead of staying at The Grove Hotel which Liverpool had reserved after reaching the semi-final stage, they have switched their booking to the Wembley Hilton overlooking the home of English football. But it isn’t the view that prompted the move; it is the hope that a change of venue will bring about a change in fortune.
The first time Klopp stayed at The Grove was ahead of the 2013 Champions League Final which Dortmund lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich. The second time came before Liverpool’s loss to Watford two months ago. Klopp is not superstitious but he is determined to leave no stone unturned in his bid to win a trophy at the first attempt. If that happens, his players and staff should ensure their phones are switched on.
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