“I’m Not a Pope of Football” – Jurgen Klopp Confesses He Has to ‘Adapt a Lot’ at Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp is regarded as one of the best managers in soccer. The German tactician has left an indelible mark on the beautiful game thanks to his domestic success with Liverpool. While his presence in the past eight years has significantly turned the table around for the Premier League club, the German humbly acknowledges that there is ‘no perfect way’ of playing the sport and he still needs to ‘adapt’ to the quality available. 

This confession was made in front of former Premier League and Wrexham star Ben Foster, who invited the former Dortmund manager to an interview for Amazon Prime Video- Sport. 

Jurgen Klopp expands on ‘finding a way’ as a soccer manager 

During the lengthy chit-chat, Ben Foster asked Jurgen Klopp to comment on the ‘modern’ and ‘open-expansive’ soccer that teams are playing in the league. While quoting Southampton’s relegation as an example, the coach insisted it doesn’t always bring success. “I’m not a pope of football and tell people how to play. It’s you, who have to find a way for your team. That’s the manager’s job, that you have a specific quality available and with the way you play that has to fit to the players and probably if it’s the right thing it will improve the players as well,” he said. 

Klopp then delved into Liverpool’s ‘intense and high-press football,’ advising that having more possession avoids such kind of situations. “I have to adapt a lot as well to the quality. The new quality we brought in the recent years and this year again. So there’s no perfect way of playing football, there’s just the right way for a specific team,” he concluded. Evidently, the 56-year-old is keen to take the Reds to the next level. Let’s dive deeper into how his journey has panned out with the Reds.

Klopp’s new level of consistency at Liverpool

Klopp further talked about how he managed to create a philosophy at Liverpool. “If you have a philosophy, you bring the players for the philosophy. If you don’t have one you create a philosophy based on the quality of players,” he said. Notably, each year has been very different for Liverpool, be it ending the 30-year wait to win the Premier League or adding a sixth Champions League title in the next year. Despite facing a major setback of losing more than half his squad due to injury, including Virgil van Dijk, in the 2020–21 season, Liverpool managed to still finish third. 

READ MORE: “He’s Not Disrespecting”- Daniel Sturridge Defends Virgil Van Dijk Over Roy Keane’s Scathing ‘Arrogant’ Remark

Furthermore, even this year, the club witnessed a significant transition in their team, with the frontline and the midfield being replaced with new names. Yet, things look good, as they not only occupy second place in the PL table but have also qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League competition. This simply proves the amount of effort Jurgen Klopp has put into making, and most importantly, sustaining the Reds as a fearful team to face. Let’s see how the season ends for them.

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