Jurgen Klopp will bring up 1,000 games in management on Saturday and said he is blessed to have the best job in the world but also the only one he is capable of doing.
The 55-year-old has managed 999 matches for Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool and joked that it has turned his beard grey, while wondering if that is a product of life at Anfield.
Klopp has been inducted into the League Managers Association’s 1000 club, with a tribute from Sir Alex Ferguson, but smiled that he has not had 1,000 good games. Yet, he reflected his career was almost over before it started when Mainz could have been relegated to Germany’s third division.
Instead, he has gone on to win two Bundesliga titles, the Premier League, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the FA Cup and the League Cup in his 22 years in the dugout. “It is a massive thing,” he said. “I did the job for the clubs I loved.
“It is a crazy number but the beard is now really grey. That was not the case when I arrived here. I am not sure if that is because of the age and Liverpool.
“It is for me the best job in the world. It is not a relaxing job, not a job where you have a lot of holiday but I love it. I feel blessed I can do it because it is pretty much the only job I can do.
“I am fine with the excitement, the pressure, the outstanding moments and the less good moments. It is part of the deal. Nobody wins all the time. I knew that early. Perhaps people should get an honour for 1000 good games – I am not sure anyone would get that.”
Klopp was a player at Mainz when asked to initially take charge of the team on a caretaker basis, with a flying start necessary to save them and ensure he was not soon dismissed.
“I didn’t know at the time that I wanted to do the job for the rest of my life,” he said. “From the first seven games, I think we won six. If we lost one more I think we would be relegated. If we win five it is an outstanding number and we go down to the third division and a promising coaching career would be finished before it started.”
He also argued that there was less pressure on him when he started because there was less outside noise. “Twenty-two years ago when I became a manager did we have smartphones? No. Great times, it means much less information. I analysed games with a video recorder and a DVD; that is how I started. When you wanted to know what the outside world thought, you have to ask somebody or open a newspaper.”
'We're trying to get back on track'
Klopp will take charge of his 1,000th game when Liverpool host Chelsea in the Premier League with the two teams positioned ninth and tenth but level on 28 points, 10 behind fourth-placed Newcastle United. The heat is on both teams if they are to arrest mixed form and resurrect their bid for a Champions League berth.
“We are here in a good position. I know that sounds strange because we didn’t play our best football but in general we are in good hands,” said Klopp, who is expected to have Darwin Nunez available for selection after the forward missed the last two matches with a muscle problem.
“So we don’t get crazy or whatever. We really know about the responsibility we have and we really try absolutely everything to try to bring us back on track and not worry too much.”
Klopp was also asked about Chelsea’s lavish outlay on players since the consortium headed by billionaire Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over in the summer. Chelsea have spent over £400m, with £140m of that outlay coming in the last 15 days and potentially more expected before the end of the month.
“I don’t think Chelsea can do this in the same manner for the next 10 years – I don’t know, maybe they can,” Klopp said. “Other teams will have ups and downs and we just have to be there. I can’t see investment stopping in the future and that means we have to do it as well.
“I believe in coaching, I believe in developing, I believe in team-building and using those things 100 per cent. Meanwhile, there are so many good managers out there it’s crazy so they believe in that as well – and if they start really properly spending and do those things as well, then you cannot not spend or you will have a little bit of a problem.
“The moment you build a new team, it doesn’t mean you have to build it every year new, [you] give players the chance to make the next step. We have quite a few of them already here. Then a lot of things are possible again. That’s the plan for the future. It’s not worrying that other teams can spend, it’s probably a matter of fact. We have to react to that as well but not just to that.”