Klopp On The Importance Of His Assistants & Continued Development

Somehow, six- and-a-half years into Jurgen Klopp’s tenure, it still doesn’t feel real. How did we, as Liverpool fans, luck out to have the world’s greatest manager—and one of the world’s top human beings—in charge of our beloved club, particularly after so many years in the wilderness? And somehow, we’ll get him for at least four more years.

That would be big news, in and of itself, but being the man that he is Kloppo also wanted to extend the contracts of his assistant coaches, particularly Peter Krawietz and Pep “The Good Pep” Lijnders.

During his pre-match press conference, Kloppo spoke about the importance of his assistant coaches, and what they bring to the project.

“It’s like this; I am, meanwhile, a pretty experienced elder generation manager, [it’s] crazy to say that, but it’s the truth,” Klopp explained.

“So, my big strength [is] that I really bring in really good people and then let them flourish. It doesn’t mean I tell them all the time: ‘No, no, no, no... we did it in the past like this.’ No, I listen. I listen because they are much closer with the managers that do their badges at the moment.

“It’s really interesting what they tell you now and not what I could tell them all the time what we did in the past, and all these kinds of things. Life is progress and you have to keep up with all the developments around you, that’s what we do.

“They keep me on track and I keep them calm and in line. Obviously, I can help as well a little bit, but we have now an agreement for another while and everybody is really happy about it. We don’t hold anybody back.

“[The] club gave us an opportunity to build a really good football team, now we have it, now let’s try to be as successful as possible.”

Klopp & Co. certainly built a fantastic squad, and if the additions of Harvey Elliot, Ibrahima Konaté, and Luis Diaz are any indication, that is a project that will only continue.

By all indications, extending the contracts of his assistants—as well as pay increases—was just as important to him than his own extension. We don’t need more reasons to love and respect Jurgen, but we just got a few more without even asking.

As I said, it still doesn’t seem possible that we could have someone like Klopp at the club. And equally, four more years still doesn’t seem enough. The important thing is to enjoy it while we can. Because no matter how good of a state Klopp leaves the club in, we’ll never see another like him.