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Liverpool’s newest manager Jurgen Klopp signed a deal to be at the Anfield club for three yearsJurgen Klopp’s move to Liverpool is probably the best thing that has happened to Merseyside club since Luis Suarez. The fans of the club who have been chanting “Klopp to Kop” since the departure of Brendan Rodgers can finally rest in peace as the German has signed a deal that will keep him at the club for the next three years.The 48-year old won two back-to-back Bundesliga titles with his former club Borussia Dortmund using the renowned football style called Gegenpressing which he himself created. The gegenpressing style is a counter attacking football style whose English translation is counter press. While the manager has a lot on his plate to help Liverpool return to their former glory, he is undoubtedly the perfect person for the job. Klopp will feel right at home at Anfield as the stadium is known for emitting just as much energy as Westfalenstadion.Here is a list of some of the lesser known facts about Jurgen Klopp.
#1 His epic celebrations
Klopp is a very passionate coach, and is a person known for relishing his team's achievements just as much as the supporters and the players. The charismatic coach whose job is to get the best out of his players also manages to get the best out of the fans.
He managed to become a fan favourite over the years at the Signal Iduna Park with his over the top celebrations. He even revealed that he once tore a muscle when he got carried away celebrating a goal.
The manager’s interaction with the fans goes even beyond the pitch. Last year even when his team were sitting rock-bottom in the league during Christmas, he bought pints for the fans for their unrelenting support. Soon after signing for Liverpool, the German celebrated his new role by having dinner with club staff at the city’s Hope Street Hotel.
Here are some of the German’s best ever celebrations.
#2 Klopp: The Manager
Before coming to fame at Borussia Dortmund Jurgen Klopp was the manager of German Club FSV Mainz 05. He made his transition into the managerial role immediately after retiring as a player.
He became the manager of Mainz 2001, and his biggest achievement at the club was to help them get promoted into the Bundesliga after finishing third in the 2003/04 season. While they managed to stay in the top division for three seasons, they were sadly relegated in the 2006/07 season. Klopp though resigned in 2007/08 after managing the club for seven years.
Borussia Dortmund hired the German in 2008 after a disappointing 13th placed finish under their previous manager Thomas Doll. After two seasons at the club, he guided the team to two consecutive Bundesliga titles. At the club, he was joint-most successful coach after achieving a five-trophy haul where he won two Bundesliga titles, a German Cup and two Super Cups. The manager though resigned from the club at the end of last season after a poor performance in the Bundesliga.
So if Klopp follows the same trend he has in his previous two clubs, the Merseysiders can expect a major trophy (the Premier League, maybe?) by the end of the third season. He is also the only manager to win two consecutive German Football Manager of the Year awards in 2011 and 2012.
#3 Career apart from management
Klopp was a player at Mainz before becoming a manager at the club. While he didn’t achieve much at Mainz as a player, he earned the title of a one-club man after starting and finishing his career at the club.
The 48-year old came to Mainz from the TuS Ergenzingen academy as a striker. Klopp eventually adopted a more defensive position, when he chose to play as a right-back.
Apart from managing, Klopp was also a pundit on the German television network ZDF. In 2006, his show received the Deutscher Fernsehpries, which is a German award for television programming, for the best sports show. The German though was replaced by Oliver Kahn at the end of the UEFA Euro 2008.
He has is also famous even in non-footballing households as he was seen in advertisements for companies like Puma, Opel and a German banking group Volksbanken-Raiffeisenbanken. Klopp even managed to do well there as the Horizont reported that the German’s presence in the Opel advertisement improved their sales.
Here is a look at his latest advertisement after becoming the manager of Liverpool.
#4 First German Liverpool manager
Klopp happens to be the third foreign manager for Liverpool, the second German manager in the Premier League and first German manager at Liverpool. Rafael Benitez and Gerard Houllier were the previous two foreign manager in Liverpool and Felix Magath, who managed Fulham in 2014, was the first German manager.
Foreign managers though have a good record at Liverpool as they have managed to win a few major trophies. Gerard Houllier won a FA Cup, three League Cups, and one UEFA Cup during his reign. He even managed to win a treble in 2001 (FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup).
Benitez, who succeeded Houllier, became a fan favourite after the magic of Istanbul. He gave Liverpool their fifth Champions League title in 2005 and an FA Cup in 2006.
#5 Klopp had a hair transplant
The newly appointed Reds manager, who is known to be a fan of heavy metal, got a hair transplant done in 2012, most likely so he could continue head banging to songs like Master of Puppets by Metallica. The German was very happy with the way it turned out and at the time during an interview with a journalist he said: “Yes, it's true. I underwent a hair transplant. I think the results are really cool, don't you?”
Not all football personalities are so straightforward about hair transplants though. One person who was not so friendly about baldness was Manchester United start striker Wayne Rooney’s.
Rooney, who got a £30,000 hair transplant in 2011, gave BBC journalist Nick Robinson a death stare during the United for UNICEF charity dinner when the writer poked fun at his hair.
#6 Klopp is now the tallest Premier League manager
His move to Liverpool also makes him the tallest manager in the Premier League. The German stands at 6’4” and is an inch taller than Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger.
While most of the Premier League managers are shorter than 6 feet, Slaven Bilic also comes close at 6’2.5” while Sam Allardyce (also known as Big Sam) is 6’3”. The biggest height difference Klopp will face is most likely with Norwich manager Alex Neil who is only 5’6.5”.
#7 Education
While playing for Mainz, Klopp got a diploma in sports from the Goethe University in Frankfurt. While many would have though his thesis would be focused on football, he wrote it on racewalking.
Racewalking is a sport which is a discipline within athletics. It is a long-distance foot race where, unlike running, one foot must always be in contact with the ground. The race distance can vary from 3000 meters to 100 kilometers.
While Klopp might know everything about walking, he will not need to do it alone as long as he is at Anfield.
#8 You\'ll Never Walk Alone
Both the clubs Klopp managed before happen to have You’ll Never Walk Alone as their club anthem. YNWA, which is a signature Liverpool chant, has been chanted by the Dortmund and Mainz fans on several different occasions.
Dortmund, who faced Liverpool in a pre-season friendly in 2014, were heard singing the song even though they were losing 4-0. It is also said that Klopp himself knows the entire lyrics of YNWA.
Here is a clip of fans of Dortmund and Mainz singing the Anfield’s signature chant. The Dortmund fans can be seen on the other side of the pitch in yellow.
The irony though is that Klopp has been spotted walking home a few times after matches at the Westfalenstadion after games, as he felt that it gave him time to think about his team’s performance.
#9 History with Liverpool
Klopp has faced Liverpool twice as a manager – both times in pre-season friendlies. The first time he faced Liverpool was in 2006 when he was the manager of Mainz. The German managed to defeat the Merseyside team 5-0 on the day.
The second time though was much different from his first experience, as his Borussia Dortmund team (which had a lot of absentees) lost 4-0 to the side led by Brendan Rodgers in 2014.
After the second encounter, he reportedly remarked: “Once, I won 5-0 against Liverpool in pre-season with Mainz and afterwards we got relegated. For me, it's now standing 5-4.”
#10 Klopp is a Stutgartt fan
The current Liverpool manager is said to be a VfB Stuttgart fan since his childhood. The German was attracted to the club as it happened to be in his hometown. Klopp, who played as a defender, idolized Stuttgart legend Karlheinz Forster who was a defender and was regarded as one of the world's top man-markers in his prime.
Forster spent the majority of his career at Stuttgart where he helped his team get promoted in his first season as a senior player. While his only contribution to Stuttgart in terms of trophies was a Bundesliga title in 1983/84, he won a UEFA European Championship for Germany in 1980 and helped them reach two finals in consecutive World Cups.
