Jürgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool FC was bumpy at first. With James Milner, there was almost once a fist fight.
Between Jürgen Klopp and long-time England international James Milner, there was almost a real fight in the cabin of Liverpool FC in January 2017. The then Liverpool and former Augsburg resident Ragnar Klavan now revealed this in the Betsafe English Podcast.
At that time there was a slight crisis at the LFC. “We were under the greatest pressure around Christmas and the beginning of January. And once – I don’t know exactly who we played against, I think away from Sunderland – Klopp and Milner almost had a physical argument. Time was around about Boxing Day in England and they almost fought each other. But Milner then backed away, “said Klavan.
Klavan: It was a difficult time for Klopp
But Klopp would have pulled through this dispute, the Estonian is sure. “We could see in his eyes that he would have gone so far just to back up his point of view. It was the most stressful time for him. He was under enormous pressure,” recalled the 35-year-old.
Klopp was in his second season with the Reds at the time, but the advance praise that he received when he signed in October 2015 had not yet been fulfilled. “They say you are a great coach. You are Jürgen Klopp and you turn all players into superstars. The pressure gradually increased for him. Nobody says it will be easy, but if you fail to deliver against a team like Sunderland, you can Forget the places you were actually hoping for, “said Klavan, looking back on the situation at the time.
Liverpool made it to fourth place at the end of the season and qualified for the Champions League. Then the steep ascent began with the Champions League final in 2018, the Champions League victory in 2019 and the narrowly missed championship in the same year, which was completed another year later.
Klavan praises Klopp: a “phenomenon”
For Klavan, the successes under Klopp are no coincidence. The former Dortmund and Mainz trainer knows how to find the right approach for his team. “He never repeated himself in team meetings, I never had that with any other coach. He always spoke from a different perspective or interspersed a little joke,” said Klavan.
Klopp is a trainer who knows exactly when to say what. “If he saw that there was a problem in the team, then he could solve it with a little joke. And vice versa, when the team wasn’t so involved, he quickly made it clear who the boss is,” explains the Center-back who played in Liverpool between 2016 and 2018. That was Klopp’s “phenomenon” that he could “read a team so well”.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
