Jurgen Klopp played football professionally but did not become a famous player. The German specialist became famous only after the end of his football career.
Jurgen created the most competitive Borussia in recent years and also restored Liverpool to top club status. We talk about his development, first as an average player, and later as a top coach. Jurgen Klopp Career. Worked as a loader and started his career at 23
Jurgen Klopp Career
Jurgen’s father loved sports and played football at an amateur level, and his mother worked as a salesman. Most of Klopp’s childhood was spent in the village of Gladden. Norbert Klopp instilled a love of sports in his two daughters (Jurgen has two older sisters), but after the birth of his son, he switched to him.
As a child, Klopp played various sports, not just football. She and her father went skiing in the winter and played tennis in the summer. Norbert competed with Jurgen and never gave his son any favors. Thus, Jurgen’s dad wanted to develop a strong character in his son.
For a very long time, Jurgen Klopp played for amateur and semi-professional teams. It was impossible to earn money for a living by football, so Klopp worked as a loader in a video rental store.
Only at 23, Jurgen signs his first contract with a professional club. Mainz drew attention to the tall striker during the match against Rot-Weiss.
Mainz is The Only Professional Klopp Player Club And The First Klopp Coach Club
Klopp spent 11 years at Mainz. He started his career at the club as a forward, as he previously played in this role in the lower divisions. Jurgen was tall and could see the field well, so they changed his position – he retrained as a defender.
The Klopp player has not won a single trophy with Mainz. The club played in the Second Bundesliga.
Jurgen played in this division for so long that he became the record holder for the number of matches played in the second largest league in Germany. Klopp played in 325 Second Bundesliga games and scored 52 goals.
Klopp quite unexpectedly switched from playing to coaching. The club’s sporting director Christian Heidel offered Jurgen the role of interim coach, and he accepted the offer. By the time of his appointment, Klopp already had a “sports scientist” diploma and a coaching license. He received them while still a player.
Jurgen’s appointment was taken as a joke. The journalists at the press conference couldn’t believe it. Klopp himself was also not fully prepared for the role of head coach.
Before the first match, he decided to walk through all the rooms where the players live and announce the squad in person. However, Jurgen soon realized that the idea was not the best.
Most recently, he went out with the players on the field, and now he has to say directly to his face who will be in the base and who will not. On the other hand, Klopp had a good first training session. Sporting Director Christian Heidel was surprised by Klopp’s level of tactical training.
Under Klopp, Mainz Reached The First Bundesliga And The UEFA Cup Qualification
Klopp did not immediately start giving results at Mainz. But by the end of the first season, the club’s management was determined to make him a permanent head coach. With “Mainz” Jurgen stopped several times in a step from promotion to the First Bundesliga, taking 4th place.
However, in the 2003/04 season, he still rose to the top division. There “Mainz” immediately took 11th place.
Jurgen Klopp has worked as a coach for Mainz for 7 years. The team’s biggest success was qualifying for the UEFA Cup in the UEFA Fair Play program. In this tournament, Mainz reached the 1st round but lost to Sevilla (0: 0, 0: 2), which was the reigning champion of the tournament.
In 2007, Mainz again flew to the Second Bundesliga, from where they could not get out at the end of the 2007/08 season. After that, Jurgen Klopp decided to leave the club.
With Klopp, Borussia became the German champion for the first time since 2002, scored a gold double, and reached the Champions League final
Shortly before the arrival of Jurgen Klopp, Borussia was on the verge of bankruptcy. Dortmund took the 13th position in the championship at the end of the season.
In the first season of Klopp at the head of Borussia, the team took 6th place in the Bundesliga. A year later, Jurgen raised the team to a line higher and brought the Dortmund team to the Europa League. After that, the management of Borussia extended the contract with the coach.
In his third season at the club (2010/11 season) Jurgen Klopp won the Bundesliga. Prior to that, Borussia had not won the German championship since 2002. Klopp continued to build on the success. Already in the 2011/12 season, Borussia won the gold double.
Dortmund won the championship again, and in the final of the German, Cup defeated Bayern Munich (5: 2). At the same time, Borussia failed in the Champions League. The team finished last in the group.
The next season, the picture changed. Borussia could not win anything in the domestic arena but reached the Champions League final. In the Champions League final, Borussia lost to Bayern Munich.
The following seasons were quite difficult for Klopp and Borussia. The team’s results worsened, it was no longer possible to compete on equal terms with Bayern Munich. According to the results of the last season, Klopp in the Dortmund club Borussia took only 7th place in the championship.
Borussia fans said goodbye to Klopp beautifully. They sang songs to him and dedicated banners. His contribution to Borussia's success went far beyond the titles he won. Under his leadership, the stars of world football grew up: Marco Reuss, Robert Lewandowski, Mario Götze, Nuri Shahin, Jakub Blashchikovsky, Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan.
Liverpool became a superclub under Klopp. The Reds won the first Champions League in 14 years
Jurgen spent 5 months unemployed until an offer came from Liverpool. The Merseysiders fired Brendan Rogers and brought in a German specialist.
In 2013, Klopp was offered a contract by Manchester United and Manchester City. Jurgen has been negotiating with Liverpool since the end of 2014.
In 2015, Jurgen Klopp signed a contract with Liverpool. As his friend and former Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel later recalled, Klopp was attracted by the similarities between Borussia and Liverpool. Communication with the fans was very important to Jurgen.
At Liverpool, Klopp made a brisk start. In the 2015/16 season, the Reds reached the League Cup and Europa League finals but lost both matches. In the championship, the results were worse. The team took 8th place and the next season was left without European cups.
In the 2016/17 season, the Reds finished 4th in the Premier League and advanced to the Champions League. In the Champions League, Liverpool left the group and beat Porto, Manchester City, and Roma in turn.
In the final, the Lersisiders met with Real Madrid. Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius made several blunders, and Jurgen Klopp’s team lost (1: 3).
Klopp’s next two seasons were incredibly successful. In the 2018/19 season, Liverpool won the Champions League with a comeback in the second leg semi-final against Barcelona (0-3 away, 4-0 at home).
Until the last round, the Reds fought for victory in the championship, but the trophy was taken by Manchester City.
In the 2019/20 season, Liverpool is just two wins short of their first league title in modern-day Premier League history. Probably only the cancellation of the season can deprive the Merseysiders of the trophy.
Jurgen Klopp played football professionally but did not become a famous player. The German specialist became famous only after the end of his football career.
Jurgen created the most competitive Borussia in recent years and also restored Liverpool to top club status. We talk about his development, first as an average player, and later as a top coach.
[…] Jurgen Klopp Career Analysis: Worked As a Loader And Started His… […]