01x01 - The Accidental Manager

[bunniefuu]

We got a message the night before.

All players in the changing room

at half past ten.

I started to think in my head,

you know, what's it about?

I didn't really have

a good feeling about it.

I thought it was gonna be

something not good.

Thank you.

I'm just gonna bail out of that song

because we do have some important

breaking news from our sports department.

Jürgen Klopp is to step down

as Liverpool manager

at the end of this season.

When I arrived

to work this morning,

this was not something

I expected to be saying

I'm absolutely devastated.

Nobody can replace him.

He is irreplaceable.

I'm getting emotional.

Gutted.

Well, to say there is a sense of shock

among Liverpool supporters today

is an understatement.

Somebody working at the club this morning

told me that some staff are in tears.

Yeah.

Okay. Stand by, guys.

Five, four, three, two, one.

You love your football,

you love Liverpool,

so why are you so convinced

this is the right decision?

With all the responsibility you have

in this job and these kind of things,

you have to be absolute top of your game,

that's how it is.

My managing skills,

it's based on energy,

on emotion, on relationships.

And

it takes all of you.

That's how it is, it needs all of you.

And if I cannot be that anymore, stop it.

Yeah. And then we have to change.

- Aw.

- Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Well, there it is.

Liverpool have just hit

the Champions League jackpot.

It was never about him,

it was about the team.

You just believe in what he says.

There's always been tough moments,

he's kept us going,

and we've had to pick him up at times.

He doesn't play a role,

he is how he is.

You really know what you get from him.

He's just so passionate.

He's been a real man of the people.

When did it start to dawn on you

that you were maybe quite good

at this management thing?

I never had, it wasn't

it was another thing

Um

I never had this moment.

I became the manager at Mainz,

and didn't see the-- the risks

and just did it.

And then you think, I like it that much

I want to do it for the rest of my life.

He hasn't left yet.

It's business as usual.

Cheers, mate.

You need to go forward

and win every game.

Just one game at a time.

We've achieved so much.

Them kids that are growing up

with a manager like Klopp.

With such positivity.

They're the ones

that are gonna carry it through.

An emotional last few days,

to say the very least.

But, as Jürgen Klopp has rightly said,

he's called on everyone

to pull together and make this season

something very, very special.

As for Norwich City, well,

of course managed by Jürgen's best mate,

he was also Jürgen's best man

at his wedding, David Wagner.

Just outside the box.

McConnell, left-footed cross.

Jones coming in. Great goal!

Back post.

Liverpool 1, Norwich 0.

Your best friend is maybe

the best manager in the world.

But for me it's Kloppo.

It's David Wagner.

I was super young,

I think 20 years of age,

when I joined Mainz.

Jürgen was already there for one season.

I think,

more or less from the first second,

we-- we-- we found a connection.

He was the top goalscorer.

I was a striker as well,

so a big competitor.

80-90% of the players who played in Mainz

were more or less local.

This really brought this group

very tight together.

We for sure didn't have the best talents

but we were a proper team.

Jürgen Klopp didn't have oodles of talent.

But he was pretty fast,

good in the air,

and unbelievable attitude.

A huge part of your job is assessing

extraordinarily talented individuals.

Fair to say you weren't maybe

like that as a player

You tried to be polite.

You don't have to, I'm over it.

Everything that I experienced as a player

helped me to become the manager I am.

I had a good idea about football

but I just couldn't

execute.

I was super-aggressive as a player,

because I am not

an aggressive person at all.

I know people sitting on the sideline,

that's a bit of a problem with my face,

and I know that in specific situations

but in general I'm not,

but on the pitch, as a player, I was.

So, and I didn't stop it,

because if I'm not that aggressive

I cannot play with all these

good players.

If there's one game

that sums up Jürgen Klopp,

it's Wolfsburg against Mainz.

This felt like

a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

for Mainz to get into the Bundesliga.

Something they'd never done before.

It's all or nothing

for Mainz 05 versus Wolfsburg.

The two are fighting for promotion

into the first division, the Bundesliga.

Andreas Kegel is there. Andreas,

this is the game of the year, isn't it?

One point would be enough to finish it.

Back in Mainz,

the fans were full of expectation.

To win promotion,

they just needed a draw.

He was a character on the pitch,

because he never gave up.

He always fought 'til the end.

It was his desire that was special.

Jürgen Klopp.

We're watching a legendary game,

including him, the President.

Thank you, dear football god,

if you exist.

I scored a goal in that game,

but I was responsible

for two they scored, so

Erm my fault.

Jürgen Klopp.

I cried after we didn't get promoted.

I knew exactly what it meant.

And I felt guilty.

We made too many mistakes.

You can't win a game like that.

But we came back over and over again.

Unbelievable.

Congratulations to Wolfsburg.

But the main pressure I had

was the pressure I put on myself.

Outside pressure

was never really my problem.

If they thought bad about me, believe me,

I could do that ten times worse.

What you write

in the newspaper

Oh, my God, you should've read my article,

which I wrote.

But you cannot play football

if you're not ready to lose.

He was 32-33.

It was a time

where you have to reconsider,

"Okay, what will I do

when I finish my playing career?",

because playing for 10-12 years

in Bundesliga 2 is not enough to say,

"Okay, I've earned enough money

to enjoy the rest of my life."

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This is the show where if it's false,

it's right, and if right, it's

False!

- And the winners are

- Losers!

It's about losing as much as possible.

Jürgen!

Have you understood the game?

Klopp knew that

in the end, you needed a proper job.

So he was studying,

he was doing internships in the media.

And you know,

being natural in front of the camera,

being witty

it came natural to him.

Jürgen, what do you do for a living?

I'm a professional football player.

Football player.

You play for FC Bayern

as a centre forward, as we all know.

No. You play for?

I'm with FSV Mainz 05.

Second division.

- And which position do you play?

- Centre forward!

And we want to

get into the first division,

just like you want to make it

to Saturday night primetime.

So, Klopp doesn't

quite know what he's doing.

He was really an accidental manager.

And the story of how he got the role

had a lot to do

with a man called Christian Heidel.

Christian Heidel is a wily character,

a very smooth operator,

but also a real wheeler-dealer.

And he ran a local car dealership.

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When he wasn't at his day job,

he was down at the football club,

where he was a sporting director.

If someone wanted a contract negotiation,

you drove to the car company

and then spoke about contracts.

Did he give you a car?

No, never!

So obviously it was a proper German car,

and we only got

lower priced Japanese cars.

Heidel was sporting director for a decade,

but he was really sick

of the constant fight against relegation.

We lost 3-1 at Greuther Fürth.

We drove back, went directly in our hotel,

because we had another game on Wednesday,

and the 'relegation battle',

erm, already started,

and so we had this kind of a mini-camp,

we didn't go home, we stayed together,

it was a bond whatever.

At that time, the manager said,

"I wanna know

if you're still behind me or not.

So, everybody can have a beer,

I go out, you discuss this,

and I come back, and then we see."

We agreed on, "nah".

The players agreed

that they couldn't back the manager.

And of course,

they asked Jürgen to break the bad news.

So, sit there,

he's coming in saying, "And?"

Oh, boss, actually

you asked "No."

And he said, "Okay."

He ran out door shouting,

"Tomorrow, nine o'clock training!"

and closed the door.

Okay

Then he called the sporting director,

he said,

"We sack all the old players, we go

through that with the young players."

I was one of the old players.

Heidel had a big decision to make.

The manager, or the players.

He chose the players.

So Christian Heidel

opens up a football magazine

and starts going through

all the leagues in Europe,

and says, "Who is the manager?",

in Bern, or in Strasbourg,

and he runs out of names that

he can think of as suitable candidates.

And then they didn't have another manager

and the game was on Wednesday.

And so he said, erm

Yeah, "Can you do it?"

I said, "What?

Yeah, but I don't play."

So that was it.

Overnight,

the old coach gets fired

and Klopp becomes manager.

No-one really believes it.

And the two or three reporters who turn up

think it's some kind of elaborate prank.

At that time, we were dead.

Situation was hopeless.

Erm, but we were a bunch of friends.

First game, winning 1-0,

it's absolutely crazy.

But still searching managers, a coach,

it was just interim, blah blah blah.

Winning the next game.

Okay, still searching for a manager.

Winning the next game.

Okay, still going for a new manager.

Winning the fourth game.

Okay, starting to think, "Hmm."

When he was the manager of Mainz,

I thought, "Come on, my friend, take me!

You need strikers anyway"

But he didn't.

Once the game started,

once the coaching started,

they quickly realised that this was

actually a fantastic idea that changed

certainly the history of Mainz,

but maybe even the history of football.

The young ones need to be

good enough to do it,

but they can only be good enough

if they get opportunity.

84, Conor Bradley.

Number 5, Ibrahima Konaté

I'm quite surprised

to start, I knew Trent was back.

And I thought the gaffer might put him in,

but then, obviously, I found out

I was starting.

Getting nerves and little butterflies.

- We defend with our life.

- Exactly.

The manager, he was just like,

"Play the way you normally do,

play full of confidence."

Let's go!

Liverpool,

Liverpool, Liverpool.

The crowd are up for it.

Jürgen called for the fans.

He says, "It's us, all together."

Conor Bradley

overlapping on that right-hand side

up against Raheem Sterling.

Bradley plays it back to Alisson,

who's way out of his penalty area.

Bradley, great tackle back.

Off Chilwell,

and Bradley can run with it now.

Great ball to Jota.

Just outside the box, Jota.

Jota, trying to go all the way.

Brilliant run, goal!

Absolutely brilliant!

Liverpool with the breakthrough.

Díaz can turn.

Enzo trying to hold him back.

Díaz has played in Conor Bradley.

Bradley, running towards goal.

Shoots, goal!

Sensational!

Conor Bradley!

There's only one

Conor Bradley, one Conor Bradley!

Now I've heard my song.

Couldn't believe it was real.

Like, I've been going to the games

since I was maybe 10, 11, 12.

For now to be playing

and have my own song,

it's just, it's just so surreal.

one Conor Bradley,

there's only one Conor Bradley.

Bradley, onside.

Great cross, header, goal!

Oh, that is magical!

Conor Bradley again.

I was nearly pinching myself

at times during it,

I just couldn't believe what was going on.

Liverpool signal

their title intentions again.

A magnificent performance,

scoring four goals.

Conor Bradley

was absolutely sensational.

From about the age of 14, I knew

I was gonna come over to Liverpool.

They'd offered me a pre-contract

and I was allowed to come over

and sign 16.

It's quite tough.

You're leaving your mum and dad

and obviously, I had my little sister

at the house as well.

It was quite a difficult experience

at the start,

so I struggled the first couple of months.

I feel like

I did have to grow up quite fast.

Driven in by Morton. Header.

And it's there! It's Conor Bradley!

I started to get to know

the lads obviously at my age,

and then making friends with them,

and brothers for life really.

We want young players

to be able to train early with us,

to accelerate the process

of their development.

And the good thing about Jürgen is that

he's a manager who likes the Academy.

I'm 56. They all could be my sons.

The sons, obviously they can tell me,

"Oh, no, no, no,

I was told to do it differently."

But they have to do it

because I'm their boss as well.

If you watch training,

the quality is insane.

But the most important stuff

is that the boys understand the game,

because from a youth player

to a top, top, top professional player,

the main difference

is the game understanding.

Because the kids

are all skilled like crazy.

They can dribble,

they can sh**t, they can cross.

But then you see

when the ball is not at their feet,

then it's like, oh my god,

it looks like they're on a motorway.

Left and right, the cars are passing them.

But, they can't wait.

Like racehorses.

They are in the stable

and you can hear it.

They wanna go.

I remember that

I really fought, but proper fought,

for Conor to be our number 2,

behind Trent.

So I was really trying

to keep him in the club.

Because I believed that he would be

already ready at that time.

The club makes a decision

together with Jürgen

to get him out on loan.

And it really, really upset me a lot.

Can he get the ball away, surely, 1-0.

Bradley, stroked it

into the bottom corner.

That was hard, hard words,

and was probably one of

the only confrontations

I had with Jürgen in a proper

He'll not remember that anyway.

I remember.

To be honest, I don't remember really.

Then he comes back to us

and starts the pre-season.

And he's excellent.

Conor. Super special boy.

"If Trent gets injured,

I can see Conor there."

Stuff like that. These kind of things.

That's how we build a squad.

When Klopp takes over

suddenly Mainz are playing football

that nobody thought was possible

with this team.

A few years later

Jürgen Klopp wins promotion with Mainz.

On 13th December, my son was born.

Seven minutes later, my alcohol level

was at nine per millilitre.

Today I'm going to take it a bit slower,

but in the end,

also be completely wrecked.

So the turnaround is just incredible.

And then he leaves

because there is a sense

that he's outgrown Mainz.

He needs to move on at this point.

- Morning!

- Hello!

For 18 years,

he's been with Mainz as player and coach.

Now, Jürgen Klopp is aiming

for higher things.

Taking over a club like Dortmund

is a different level.

But the things is,

Borussia Dortmund in 2008

were still grappling with the shock

of nearly going bust in 2005.

The club was marooned in mid-table.

The football had become so boring

that the crowd really switched off.

But Dortmund took note

of what Klopp had achieved

at a place like Mainz.

And saw a larger-than-life figure

that could actually bring that excitement

and that charisma into a bigger role.

Klopp comes in

and the football is unrecognisable

and the results immediately improve.

He gave the team

a new tactical identity.

High energy, pressing,

gegenpressing, heavy metal football.

The gegenpressing style was something

that Jürgen made very famous.

It's quite simple.

The second you lose the ball,

you should take it as a chance

to win it back as soon as you can.

With a change of speed,

with high intensity, with aggression.

Someone does something new, and it works?

Everybody thinks, "Bloody hell".

These ideas were revolutionary,

and Klopp had learned them

from his coach at Mainz, Wolfgang Frank.

Wolfgang Frank had a new, very holistic

idea of what football could be.

That was concerned with where the ball was

and where the spaces were on the pitch.

Wolfgang Frank

was the best manager I ever had.

The main thing he taught us was

even if the other team

is better on each position,

with better organisation,

we can win the game.

And Klopp has this epiphany.

And he realised, okay,

you can actually

change your fortunes as a team

if your ideas are better.

I come to Dortmund,

we didn't have money

to buy experience and quality.

So we decided for the young g*ns.

This age group, born in '88 and '89,

they changed the world

for Borussia Dortmund

because there was a bunch of players,

oh my gosh.

When I saw Mario Götze the first time,

I was searching my phone,

"Player number 7, who's that?"

Who is that?

Mario Götze, 16 years old,

is he allowed to play Bundesliga?

That was my first thought.

These kind of things.

So it's super exciting

when you see this talent.

Götze!

So you cannot play with the youth team

in the Bundesliga,

but you can have very young players

in a Bundesliga team, that's possible.

That's the way we did it.

He was never afraid

to give young players a chance.

He gives this to young players,

a feeling of "You are okay.

I believe in you and I trust in you.

And be calm, make mistakes,

but fight like hell."

He creates this tremendous

sense of momentum

and sort of lights up, not just the pitch,

not just the stadium,

but effectively, the whole city.

Halfway through Klopp's third season,

Dortmund had fought their way

to the top of the Bundesliga

and were suddenly in with a chance to win

their first title in nearly a decade.

Dortmund are all over the opposition,

suffocating them.

Dortmund win the game.

And afterwards,

Jürgen Klopp phones his mentor,

Wolfgang Frank, and thanks him.

It's inconceivable that Klopp

would have been as good a coach

if he hadn't the ideas

from Wolfgang Frank,

and through his own personality,

moulded them.

Is it right

that at Dortmund you won the league

with the youngest team they'd ever had?

Still.

Liverpool.

It's a big club with big ambitions.

When we got the news about the manager

and his staff, were gonna leave,

it gave us that extra boost,

just to try and win every single game.

This is just like the normal walk

in the morning, you come in.

Wash bag.

You know, you just see

all the lads just round.

- Morning

- Morning.

This area we come every day.

Basically just like our second home.

And the big dogs here anyway

to start off the morning, Joey G.

oh my God.

Most complete midfield.

Declan Rice.

Jude Bellingham.

Curtis Jones.

Hey, can we just make some room

for our skipper, please?

Here he comes through.

You have to stand like this.

- How are you, brother?

- I'm good, brother.

- You doing a little tour, yeah?

- Just giving a little tour, bro.

This is the physio room.

Are we allowing the cameras to come in?

Yeah, Mohamed!

And we've also got a fine here

for the phone!

Mo's been caught with his phone,

so that'll be

- £250.

-£250.

- I didn't use it, mate.

- Yeah, but it's there, man.

And if you wanna tell them

what you called me outside?

No! Curtis is my brother.

In the Academy,

he was not the nicest kid on the planet.

He knew he was the best,

he told everybody.

"What do you want from me? Give me

the ball and you'll never see it again."

- Curtis Jones.

- He was really confident.

Really confident.

Good play by the young Scouser.

He's got the confidence

to have a pop as well.

Where I'm from,

people don't have a lot of money.

Or don't have a lot of, erm,

opportunities, I'd say.

Here's Curtis Jones.

- Yes!

- Oh, lovely goal!

But when I was in school

and I'd be told,

"You need your education,

you need this, need that."

I'd be like,

"No, I'm gonna be a footballer."

"Yeah, but you know,

you might not be a footballer--"

"Nah, nah, nah,

I'm gonna be a footballer."

Here comes Curtis Jones!

Oh, delightful!

It's a battle

against all these lads.

I wanna show every single day

that I'm the best.

You don't want to choose them over me.

He was never in doubt

that he will make it.

I love that so much. It's so different

to pretty much my personality.

It's like,

I have no idea how I arrived here,

he knows he's in

absolutely the right place.

I came into the team

when they were going for Champions

Leagues and the Premier Leagues,

and for weeks and months and stuff

there were times when I'd train every day.

But I wouldn't be in the squad

or I'd be on the bench

and I wouldn't play and stuff.

Jürgen was the man who always said,

"Look, you need to do this,

you need to do that,

or do this, you need to adapt."

I always could understand the player.

That they hated me if they didn't come on

or didn't start, or whatever,

because I was no different.

So when I go and tell him,

"Curtis, you have to

pass the ball more often."

And he has to learn that the ball

from now on when he passes to whoever,

James Milner,

there's a good chance

he will do something special.

Or you'll get it back.

You know, I took it on my chin.

And I was never shy to knock on his door.

Ask him, "Look, what am I doing wrong?

And how do I move the one

who's ahead of me out the way?"

If you wanna talk to me

about the reason why you don't play

or stuff like that, you can do that.

But after the game.

If you come before the game,

you show me you don't respect

our general task, target, job, purpose.

Game at the beginning of the season.

I started really well.

You know, I was playing all the games,

I was scoring goals,

I was helping the team a lot, and then

For Curtis Jones

the first red card

of his Liverpool career.

It was

Yeah, it was kind of like a step back.

Fans always be on your back.

Pressure's on me a little bit more.

Frustrating.

Maddison with a brilliant through ball.

And Tottenham

make the extra man count.

He always had this thing

that was like,

when we win, it's all us,

and when we lose, it's all him.

"If we go and lose,

then I'll take the blame.

You know, it's my team that I chose,

it was my style of play that I chose,

it was a tactic that I chose."

If you would have thought

that Curtis Jones can develop

into a defensive monster?

I think nobody saw that coming.

And I'm so proud of it,

and he lost nothing

of his football ability.

Here's Jones.

Jones running at them.

Jones is into the area.

It's a brilliant run. Jones. Ooh!

What a goal!

Curtis Jones!

The man

he developed into is wonderful.

2012 is Dortmund and Klopp

at their very peak.

They win the Bundesliga for a second time,

holding off Bayern.

Then come up against Bayern again

in the cup final in Berlin.

Kagawa! Goal for Dortmund!

Klopp told his players

that they could be the first ones

at Borussia Dortmund to win the double.

Something that the club hadn't achieved.

They didn't just win the game,

they absolutely destroyed Bayern.

When he came in at Dortmund,

Bayern Munich had won the league

so many times.

And when you see a team

stop a team like that,

everybody sits up and takes notice.

It’s incredible.

Just an amazing feeling

that they won 5-2 today. Unbelievable!

You can’t describe that feeling.

It’s just completely unique. Uniquely BVB!

Some thought Dortmund

had overtaken Bayern Munich,

but they hit back

by targeting their best players.

They went after Götze, Lewandowski,

they win the treble,

and then to make things worse for Klopp,

hiring the best manager in world football.

Pep Guardiola.

He is certainly

the most successful coach in recent years,

I’m sure about that.

Pep is going to make his way up,

I believe.

Klopp against Guardiola.

It's the start of a great rivalry.

Dortmund win the Supercup.

But the Bayern-Guardiola juggernaut

proves unstoppable.

In the next season,

the Dortmund pressing machine under Klopp

just begins to creak a little bit.

Other teams begin to adjust.

So he loses that advantage.

And his relationship with the media

soured a little bit.

You’re sitting here

as if on vacation. I'm here to work.

That's why I can't answer that way.

So easy.

I’m working too.

Thank you so much.

Klopp felt that people were

questioning the whole approach of his.

They were wondering

if he'd been found out,

if those tactics had run their course.

And things got

a little bit tetchy at times.

You’ve just said you’re still trying,

but it’s over, isn’t it, Jürgen Klopp?

How could anyone possibly pay my wages

if I was standing here today

saying it’s over?

Yes, a perfectly daft answer

to a perfectly daft question,

as we all know.

- Well, okay, but

- "Mr Klopp, it's over."

Sorry, but we need to give it

our best once more

- Are we done?

- Yes, you can go. Many thanks!

Oli, super to be the two of us today

Dortmund and Klopp was

a story that had run its course.

So he resigned and moved on.

It was clear and I’ve said it

many times in the past years,

if I reach a point where I feel like

I’m no longer the perfect coach

for this extraordinary club,

I'd say so.

There was no doubt

he'd be in high demand

as one of the best managers

in the business.

Today another huge hurdle

is thrown in front of Brendan Rodgers.

Chelsea and José Mourinho roll into town.

Can't forget

Brendan Rodgers was one game away

from winning the Premier League title.

But when it started to go wrong,

it went really wrong.

Gerrard. Oh, slipped.

Big moment.

Demba Ba and Steven Gerrard's slip.

And Demba Ba scores.

What a cruel moment

for the Liverpool captain.

We just fell away from the pack.

Coutinho.

Beautifully played, onside here.

Marković.

Oh.

What a chance.

It was a disaster

at the start of the season,

now it's become a debacle.

I'm just fed up

of it either being brilliant or tragic.

We were finishing fifth and sixth.

We were not even a Champions League team.

Stoke City again. Adam. 4-0.

This is appalling from Liverpool.

Liverpool lost 6-1 away

at Stoke City.

I think it was a body blow for everybody.

Liverpool lead the derby.

Deulofeu at the other end.

It's Lukaku. It's 1-1.

It's a horrible,

horrible goal to concede.

He's been there three and a bit years.

He hasn't won a trophy.

And they've played

Champions League football once.

The natives are restless.

Big breaking news from the Premier League,

breaking right now.

Brendan Rodgers has left Liverpool.

When I finished at Dortmund,

I was already, "Come on,

I want to go on holiday now."

Ulla and the two boys.

I didn't think a second about football

in that moment.

There was nothing there.

I felt free. Weather was good.

Glass of wine, ba-ba-ba.

Phone goes and I see it's Marc, my agent.

And that's this moment where,

and my two sons look at my eyes

And they went

completely bonkers in that moment,

and Ulla did, "What? What's going on?"

Being manager of Mainz

means everybody in Mainz knows you.

Being manager at Dortmund,

means every person in Germany,

who's in football, knows you.

Becoming Liverpool manager means

every football supporter

in the world knows you.

Liverpool is a massive club

and I felt that immediately.