Munich job but the new Liverpool manager has denied
that any talks took place.
New Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has denied holding talks with
Bayern Munich prior to his move to Anfield.
The former Borussia Dortmund head coach held his first
Liverpool press conference on Friday after signing a three-year
deal to succeed Brendan Rodgers, who was sacked following
the derby draw with Everton.
Speculation had arisen that Klopp had been sounded out to
replace Pep Guardiola at Bayern, with the former Barcelona
boss now in the final year of his contract at the Allianz Arena.
Klopp, however, insists he only ever held talks with Liverpool
despite receiving offers from elsewhere, telling Sky in Germany:
"I don't know anything about that [the Bayern rumours] and this
is not relevant to me.
"Bayern are a fantastic club but I don't go on holidays and wait
for someone to call me. I have done many things that I found
interesting and exciting and I have used the time to meet loads
of great people and I would have met many more.
"I never had a certain career plan and I can assure you that I
never talked to Bayern Munich. I also hope that Guardiola will
stay there for another 10 years.
"I didn't want to coach many clubs. Of course I had concrete
offers but Liverpool is the only club I have actually spoken to."
Klopp impressed a number of former Liverpool favourites with
his opening press conference, including Jamie Carragher and
Kenny Dalglish, and the 48-year-old hopes to transmit the same
sense of positivity to his players.
"Normally, I don't think about press conferences and go there
and just say what has to be said," he explained. "This time I had
to think about it a little bit, but I think it went well.
"During the press conference I tried to make clear that the right
expectations are able to change everything. If you have the
right expectation everything will fall into place. Having the
wrong one can prohibit this.
"There is a lot of pressure on Liverpool and I am aware of that
difficulty. A very important reason why I have taken this job is
because I am bent on taking this challenge and because I am
keen on seeing what can be done and what cannot.
"I also fancied working abroad and I was up for a change. I am
really, really happy here.
"There won't be any problem with the players as there are also
loads of foreign players. My English is probably as bad as theirs
so they will understand me a lot easier.
"And also, as I am not a native speaker, I won't just start talking
random stuff, because I will have to make an effort in order to
be understood. It is not important to be fluent in a language. It
is important to say the right words at the right time."
Klopp described himself as "the Normal One" on Friday and the
ex-Mainz boss was eager to explain his meaning.
"There will be many people back in Germany questioning that
sentence … But yes, that is how I am and it is quite important to
me," Klopp said.
"Of course, the things at this club haven't been too catastrophic
so far. The main thing is that the last years in total haven't been
working out too well, even before Brendan Rodgers. And it was
not easy for my colleagues here to show that they are on a
good way. This is why the thirst for a change was so big and
this is why they had to take the measurements they did.
"But this doesn't mean that I will arrive here and change
everything in the first season saying from now on we will do it
as we have done it so far.
"I am so keen on listening to the people here, getting to know
them and getting used to everything. And after that I will ideally
press the right buttons. I have already said that I don't see
myself as almighty. I am far away from being 'the special one'."
No comments:
Post a Comment