Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Norbert Klopp (born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. Klopp spent most of his playing career at Mainz 05, and was their manager from 2001 to 2008. He then became manager of Borussia Dortmund, guiding them to the Bundesliga title in 2010–11. Klopp was appointed manager of Liverpool in 2015, leading them to UEFA Europa League Final in his first season. He has since guided the club to successive UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter to secure his first – and Liverpool’s sixth – title in the competition.

About Jürgen Klopp in brief

Summary Jürgen KloppJürgen Norbert Klopp (born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. Klopp spent most of his playing career at Mainz 05, and was their manager from 2001 to 2008. He then became manager of Borussia Dortmund, guiding them to the Bundesliga title in 2010–11, before winning Dortmund’s first-ever domestic double during a record-breaking season. Klopp was appointed manager of Liverpool in 2015, leading them to UEFA Europa League Final in his first season. He has since guided the club to successive UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter to secure his first – and Liverpool’s sixth – title in the competition. His side finished second in the 2018–19 Premier League, registering 97 points; the then third-highest total in the history of the English top division, and the most by a team without winning the title. Klopp is a notable proponent of Gegenpressing, whereby the team, after losing possession, immediately attempts to win back possession, rather than falling back to regroup. The importance of emotion is something Klopp has underlined throughout his managerial career, and he has gained notoriety for his enthusiastic touchline celebrations. His sides have been described as playing ‘heavy metal’ football by pundits and fellow managers, in reference to their pressing and high attacking output. Klopp has won back-to-back FIFA Coach of the Year awards in 2019 and 2020.

He also won the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool in 2009. Klopp’s side won the Premier League title in 2011 and 2012, as well as the European Super Cup in 2012. He won the Champions League with Liverpool on two occasions in 2013 and 2014. Klopp won the UEFA Super cup with Liverpool during the 2011–12 season, and helped them to their first ever Champions League win in the process. He was also part of the side that won the European Champions League in 2013. He retired as a player in 2014, registering 56 league goals in total, including 52 league goals as a Mainz 04 player. As a young boy, Klopp aspired to become a doctor, but he did not believe he was ever smart enough for a medical career. He played for local club SV Glatten and later TuS Ergenzingen as a junior player, with the next stint at 1. FC Pforzheim and then at three Frankfurt clubs, Eintracht Frankfurt II, Viktoria Sindlingen and Rot-Weiss Frankfurt during his adolescence. As an amateur footballer, Klopp worked a number of part-time jobs including working at a local video rental store and loading heavy items onto lorries. In 1988, while attending the Goethe University of Frankfurt, he managed the Frankfurt D-Juniors. The same year, Klopp obtained a diploma in sports science. He said he felt more suited to a managerial role, describing himself as a fourth-division head and head-division player.