Tribal Football

Jurgen Klopp reveals why he may never return to management

Alex Roberts
Jurgen Klopp reveals why he may never return to management
Jurgen Klopp reveals why he may never return to managementAction Plus
Former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has opened up on his future and revealed why he may never return to management.

The 58-year-old ended his nine-year spell at Liverpool after the 2023-24 season, becoming Red Bull's Head of Global Soccer months later.

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In his recent interview with German outlet Welt, he has suggested that he no longer has the desire to be a coach, citing the personal cost.

Klopp said: “I was in a tunnel, but never with myself. Now I pay more attention to myself. As silly as it sounds, I stopped doing what I always wanted to do. 

“But it took me too far away from normal life – and ultimately, I no longer had a normal life. Whatever normal life is: my car knew three ways – to the stadium, to the training ground, and home.

"Frustratingly, while I had many visitors in Liverpool, I hardly had time for them. In the last four months, I’ve been to two weddings – before that, none in 23 years.”

"But I don’t want that (management) anymore. I have a job now that fulfills me and is also intense. I don’t sleep in the morning and I don’t go to bed later at night, but I can organise my work much better. My wife, for example, is really happy with it because we can plan things much better that we couldn't before.”

"Of course I enjoyed it too. Some days I couldn’t believe my luck. Just look where I came from – and then I made it to Liverpool FC, and it worked out pretty well there. 

“If I were to go back to coaching somewhere, it would all start again. I’m me! I can’t just take over and coach. Then I’d be completely involved everywhere again. And I just don’t see that happening anymore.”

"He (Roy Hodgson) came up to me and asked how I was. In the same breath he said to me: ‘I miss it.’ And I was like: ‘What?’ Roy is 77 years old – and he wants to be a coach again. 

“Unbelievable! When we played against Crystal Palace with Liverpool, I always asked him whether his apartment was damp or why he was standing on the pitch now.”

"But Jose Mourinho also said to me: ‘This is not the end.’ There are those coaches who always want to do that. I loved being a coach, but I was never addicted.”