In a recent edition of Football’s Greatest Managers podcast, ex-Liverpool star James Milner was asked if Jurgen Klopp had changed and ‘mellowed down’ over the years as the club’s manager.
He said: “Yeah, he did. At the start, there were not many days off, a lot longer and harder training at times. And then I think to his credit, Germany was a lot different as they have the winter break, whereas England, Christmas is the busiest period. I think he learned to trust the team.
“I think he had ideas about players and maybe English players as well, they like to drink a lot, don't prepare well and I think he saw with the squad he had that it wasn't like that, and if players got a day off they would look after themselves. To his credit, he changed things and softened as time went on, but never lost his edge.
“He was more definitely aggressive at the start, he lost his rag a bit more at the start, but that is setting the standards. It's probably the players he had wasn't his squad and he wanted to get his point across.”
Klopp has been heavily responsible for completely transforming Liverpool from being a mid-table club when he took over in 2015 to restoring the Reds to one of Europe’s very best and helping them compete for major honours.
The German gaffer has won nearly everything there is to win as Liverpool manager, be it the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup or FIFA Club World Cup and still has a hunger to win a lot more as the Reds keep competing on multiple fronts this season.
