The China Mail - 'I never felt like a world-class coach', says Jurgen Klopp

"I never considered myself a world-class coach," Klopp told AFP and other media in an interview in Leipzig, "because I still had so many questions when I finished."

"I was like 'how can I be world-class with these questions still?'"

After starting out at Mainz, where he took the club to the top flight for the first time, Klopp moved to Borussia Dortmund, where he won two Bundesliga titles and reached the 2013 Champions League final.

After signing with Liverpool in 2015, Klopp's Reds won every trophy on offer, including the Champions League and Premier League.

In his new role as Red Bull's global head of football, where he oversees a multi-club structure with teams including RB Leipzig, New York Red Bulls and Paris FC, Klopp said that he wants to help coaches answer those questions.

"My role with the coaches is to be the guy I never had. I sat in my office very, very, very often, very, very, very alone.

"A lot of people gave me advice and have great ideas... It's great to have ideas, but it's really not that easy to make the final decision.

"I want to be in moments when I know they are alone, or feel alone. I want to be there."

Klopp oversaw the firing of then-Leipzig coach Marco Rose, a long-time friend, in 2025 and said that being on the other side felt odd.

"Grave-digger of the coaches -- that's a title I never wanted to win!"

- 'I never watch the goals back' -

From taking Mainz to the Bundesliga to breaking Liverpool's Premier League drought, Klopp improved clubs and players wherever he went.

Often taking over with teams at a low ebb, the coach would try and put things in perspective.

"How did I start a game? I would say 'the worst news is you can lose it' -- so let's try and win it... Do not try to avoid defeat -- try to win."

The coach said he told his players: "Giving your all doesn't mean you will get anything, but it's your only chance to get something. That's pretty much how you do it.

"We gave everything -- and sometimes we got something."

Klopp said that media and fans were too focused on results.

"I never watch the goals back, because I want to understand the game to the left and the right of the result.

"I want to understand why it happened... Results are the result of the performance. So we worked on the performance and the results came later."

The 58-year-old said that he "didn't take any pride" out of trophy ceremonies and parades.

"I love being a part of it, not in the middle of it. You might see pictures where someone gave me a trophy and I'd take it, but I didn't need to touch it.

"For me, it was the journey that I loved. That gave me much more than the moment (of winning)."

- 'You know if Jurgen Klopp is in the room' -

Klopp retains cult-like status at his former clubs, with fans remembering the German for his sideline antics and everyman appeal as much as his successes.

RB Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schaefer told AFP that Klopp has brought the same presence into his new role, even if he is no longer on the sideline.

"He has something that is unique. He has a god-given talent which everyone knows from his coaching jobs.

"He can catch people in five to 10 minutes."

Schaefer said that Klopp plays an important role in player recruitment by "talking to families, talking to players about our vision, about our project.

"You know if Jurgen Klopp is in the room."

Since stepping down at Anfield, Klopp has been linked to an array of high-profile coaching jobs, but said that a return to the dugout is unlikely.

"I don't expect to change my mind, but I don't know.

"We're building a house right now and my missus wanted to have a really big trophy room. There was another small room and I said 'this is enough, because we know how many trophies we have, we will not add any'.

"It might sound arrogant, but I know I can coach a football team. But I don't need to do it until my last day."

R.Yeung--ThChM