Klopp details the one part of the English game he wasn’t prepared for

Posted by

Moving to a new country can be a culture shock for anyone. For some young players (and managers) it is simply too much – they can’t hack the food, the weather, the people, and they go back home with their tails between their legs.

Not Jurgen Klopp. In an interview with the Daily Mail, he’s been speaking about why he left German and moved to England.

“I’m here because I knew everything about Germany, so I wanted to have this different culture and I enjoy it,” he said.

SEE MORE
Liverpool lose 2-1 to Huddersfield
Alonso talks about his relationship with Rafa
Liverpool name 25-man squad

Follow @DanPriceMX on Twitter

Most interestingly, he discusses some of the differences between German and English football. He readily admits he’s not here to try and change things to the “German way”, but said the biggest surprise was the cup games.

Specifically, he spoke about our game against Exeter in the FA Cup last season. We managed to nab a draw thanks to Brad Smith and take a replay back to Anfield, but Klopp says he was shocked about both the game’s timing and the quality of the pitch.

“[If you don’t want a winter break] that’s no problem for me — I’m here because of this. Play on December 24, play on December 26, I love my family but for me I prefer to play football. But then we play December 28 and 31, and January 2 and I am thinking: ‘OK, now we need three teams for this’.”

“The fixtures are like they are. I knew that before I came here. All I did not know is how the cup games are.

“You go to Exeter and you think, ‘‘Whoah’’. You look at the pitch and think ‘‘That is not for football today’’ but then they play real football and you have to really fight. You have professional teams in league five here.

“The biggest difference between England and the others is that the competition is always so hard”

More Stories Jürgen Klopp