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How Klopp's curiosity has given Liverpool their edge

8 hours 35 min ago

As the Harvard Business Review puts it, one of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading. Jurgen Klopp is a fine coach. But he became an even better leader because of his willingness to embrace new people and new ideas.

His Liverpool side have evolved tactically, adjusting to the trends in the game, but what has made Klopp so successful extends beyond the action on the pitch. It is about the learning culture at Liverpool, the openness to improve. It might be his biggest legacy.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their ability. It is rife in football's insular world where the tendency is to avoid outsiders altogether. Klopp rose above this and reaped the benefits.

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Sky Sport News' Melissa Reddy breaks down why Michael Edwards has returned

Time and again he has shown himself willing to learn from experts. It is one thing to delegate coaching responsibility to someone who it is hoped will coach in a similar way. Introducing coaches who are going to change the way things are done is quite another.

Perhaps the most notorious example at Liverpool is the deployment of Thomas Gronnemark as a specialist throw-in coach. There were those in football who derided this decision - Richard Keys and Andy Gray chuckling like schoolboys at the mere notion of it.

Klopp had no interest in how things had always been done. His only concern was whether it could be done better. "When I heard about Thomas Gronnemark, it was clear to me I wanted to meet him. When I met him, it was 100 per cent clear I wanted to employ him."

Speaking to Gronnemark in 2020 about his role at Liverpool, the detail that went into his work was immediately obvious. The Dane explained in easy-to-understand language how he could improve a team's outcomes - and the input was tactical as well as technical.

He was used to being mocked. "Ever since I started in 2004, people have been laughing at the idea of throw-in coaching," Gronnemark told Sky Sports. "It is too weird for some people." But not Klopp. What does that tell us about him and people like him?

"They get in touch because they are innovative and they are open-minded," Gronnemark explained. "They are always thinking of new ways to improve." Liverpool went from third last for retaining the ball under pressure from throw-ins to the best in the Premier League.

 Coach Thomas Gronnemark speaks to the players of Liverpool during a training session at Melwood Training Ground on October 15, 2019 in Liverpool, England. Image: Thomas Gronnemark helped Liverpool to improve their throw-in performance

If the throw-in example is too granular, its impact on results not tangible enough, how about Klopp's decision to turn to Niklas Hausler and Patrick Hantschke of neuro11? He credits their work on penalty psychology for two of Liverpool's shoot-out wins at Wembley.

Klopp's team defeated Chelsea in the finals of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup in 2022, scoring 17 of their 18 penalties. It was the first season in which they had worked with neuro11, who gave the players the tools to focus in those high-pressure moments.

Speaking to Hausler later that year, he explained the process. "We can know what helps the player to get into this automatic state, into what is known by many people as the zone. We literally measure the brain waves and feed it back to the player," he told Sky Sports.

"We help the player to understand what things help them to optimise their routine. What is it that helps them and what is it that distracts them? I think that is unique. It is the first time in professional sports that this has been done. The results have been shown."

That work with Liverpool is ongoing. "They work for us," said Klopp before this season's Carabao Cup semi-final. "They were here last week because there was the potential of a penalty shootout against Fulham. We will definitely do something before the final."

How about something more abstract? A session with famed big-wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner is not necessarily going to win Liverpool a trophy. But Klopp still invited him to share his expertise in 2020, working on underwater breathing techniques with the players.

"It was absolutely incredible, we had players [holding their breath] for nearly three minutes," said Klopp of that experience with Steudtner. "Three minutes! After half an hour of teaching. That only means you can perform more than you ever imagined.

"I was very interested in what he had to say about how he deals with pressure. If he surfs the highest wave he ever saw, then he is waiting the whole year for the next one, maybe two years. It is just so obvious where the similarities are."

German big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner poses for a photo on December 16, 2015 in Nazare, Portugal. Image: German big-wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner spoke to the Liverpool squad

Maybe it is just his mindset. Klopp's outlook extends beyond what could help Liverpool. In 2021, when speaking to now Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper coach Fabian Otte, he revealed a story about Klopp that provides an insight into his natural curiosity.

Otte was at Burnley, warming up the goalkeepers before a game against Liverpool. "He started smiling at me," he told Sky Sports. "Obviously, Jurgen Klopp is a big name, I have heard about him, read about him and watched him on TV for many years. I just waved back.

"When I got back to the changing room, the kitman said, 'Jurgen Klopp was just asking about you. He said he read this piece about you and was interested.' Afterwards, I spoke to him for quite a while and he was such a cool person. It was a very interesting experience.

Borussia Mnchengladbach goalkeeper coach Fabian Otte during the German Bundesliga match between Borussia Monchengladbach - Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Borussia- Park stadium on August 26, 2023 in Monchengladbach Image: Gladbach goalkeeper coach Fabian Otte highlights Jurgen Klopp's people skills

"This is the Liverpool manager. He could have a thousand better things to do than read about me but he knew so many details.

"This is a very German word but when there is someone people instantly like as a leader, they call him a Menschenfanger. Literally, it means someone who catches people in a very positive way, people just come towards him.

"It got me thinking. If he is interested in me that much, how interested would he be in the staff members who he hires and works with on a daily basis? Instantly, you could imagine following him. This is the trait of a very good leader."

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Jurgen Klopp gives his view on the return of Michael Edwards to Liverpool

As Klopp prepares to depart Liverpool, it is natural to wonder what the impact of his exit will be. With the return of Michael Edwards, the club has already acted to help ensure the culture continues. But when a leader leaves, there can be a vacuum.

History would suggest that it might be a problem. If there is hope, it comes not only from the recruitment decisions of Edwards and his colleagues but the environment that Klopp has worked to create at Liverpool. Curious players who are still open to learning.

When Trent Alexander-Arnold began trying to improve his peripheral vision with ophthalmologist Dr Daniel Laby, it was, ostensibly, a marketing project for Red Bull. But speaking to the Liverpool player about it, his approach to the challenge explained a lot.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's vision project with Dr Daniel Laby through Red Bull Image: Dr Daniel Laby worked with Trent Alexander-Arnold on his peripheral vision

"It is about the little one per cents. As an individual, you need to find something to put yourself ahead of the rest," Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports. "The margins are fine. It might not make the difference day to day but it might just be the difference in one or two games this season where I have seen a pass and I have been able to play it because of the extra work that I have been putting in off the pitch."

It could have been Klopp talking that day.

His Liverpool legacy will be felt in many ways. Throw-in coaches and surfers will not be the first elements of his time at Anfield that spring to mind when the eulogies are delivered. But in their own way, they reveal plenty about the person - and the secrets of his success.

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Categories: LFC NEWS

De Zerbi's Anfield audition: Are Liverpool daring enough to hire him?

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 17:00

The style with which Roberto De Zerbi has established Brighton in the top half of the Premier League table, this season and last, demands that the 44-year-old coach be considered for the biggest jobs. This weekend, live on Super Sunday, he takes the stage for what could be his Anfield audition.

Pep Guardiola has called De Zerbi "one of the most influential managers in the last 20 years" because of his brand of football. The three-time Champions League-winning coach said: "There is no team playing the way they play. It is unique."

With De Zerbi, there is an unusual trajectory in his career path though. Big clubs haven't come knocking. Yet.

When Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche took unfashionable teams into the upper reaches of the Premier League, the concern was that their approach would not be ambitious enough for the very best.

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In De Zerbi's case, could it be too ambitious for cautious owners?

The good news for Brighton is that those are the whispers following reports that he is under consideration for the soon-to-be vacant role at Liverpool when Jurgen Klopp departs. Xabi Alonso has less coaching experience but it is De Zerbi whose fascinating football is seen as a risk.

In full flow, his teams find angles that others do not, triangles all over the pitch, controlling the rhythm in possession and pressing man-to-man out of it. At its very best, watching his Brighton side can feel like watching the future of the sport, evolution in action. Brighton put down the feather dusters used under Graham Potter and replaced them with battering rams under De Zerbi.

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When Brighton are hot, they are hot.

From January 2023 to the end of last season, Brighton led the way for expected goals (51.3) in the Premier League, bettering Manchester City's tally of 46.18 for the same period. No team had more shots (605) or shots on target (228) than the scintillating Seagulls. It took them to Europe for the first time.

De Zerbi's courageous and exciting attacking style does lend itself to his defence being exposed but even if including their expected goals against record, their overall expected goals difference (expected goals - expected goals against) of 21.6 ranked them second only to Pep Guardiola's team during that period last season. Brighton's process was frighteningly impressive.

De Zerbi speaking on his future in February...

"When I listen that the big teams are interested in me, it is an honour and makes me proud My focus is the work day by day. About the future, I'm going to speak with the owner and the club because I want to compete in the best way I can. I want to understand their plan and then it is not a problem to work in a big, big team. I would like, in my career, to compete to win the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Champions League."

Perhaps there are parallels here with Marcelo Bielsa, the celebrated Argentine coach who has inspired so many but been overlooked for Europe's biggest jobs. He too is regarded as a maverick who changed the way coaches think with his interpretation of the game.

De Zerbi's own vertical approach focuses more on possession than pressing but it is similarly eye-catching when it works and alarming when it does not. Naturally, surrendering the ball in your own defensive third of the pitch is more likely to result in conceding.

The dark side of De Zerbi's football has been more of the narrative this campaign, where Brighton have struggled with their added workload of European football. Tired minds are leading to more mistakes.

Brighton have made eight errors leading to goals this season, the joint-most by any team in the Premier League along with bottom club Sheffield United. No team have faced more shots from individual errors either (18). That commitment to playing out from the back comes at a price.

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De Zerbi's admirers would argue, with some justification, that the risky football it is worth it.

When Brighton play through the opposition, it is both beautiful and brilliantly effective. However, the facts are this: Brighton are having a mediocre season. De Zerbi's stock has fallen.

Out of all cup competitions and work still to do to nab a European qualification spot in the Premier League, De Zerbi's intense style and himself admitting the club weren't ready for European football has led to Brighton's squad being decimated by injuries at various points of the season.

Brighton will be without Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March at Anfield on Sunday, while Joao Pedro - pictured at training on Wednesday to boost hopes of a return - has been out with a hamstring injury. No club would be expected to thrive shorn of a starting front three.

There will always be doubts whether a coach can adapt to the demands of a bigger job. Klopp and Xavi Hernandez are walking away from Liverpool and Barcelona respectively in the summer, citing their energy levels. The pressures are vast.

De Zerbi has an aura though - one you associate with top managers. He plays off emotions on the touchline. And he treats his players like family. When he talks, you can see that determination. He makes you want to follow.

As Sky Sports' Melissa Reddy writes in her in-depth column about who could replace Klopp, "De Zerbi's ability to innovate and communicate unique concepts to his players, who absorb it so quickly and effectively, is a core weapon."

Roberto De Zerbi

The spotlight at Liverpool tests character, the profile of player challenges man-management. These are factors worthy of consideration. The odd thing about the De Zerbi conundrum for football's risk-averse super clubs is that they know the football that he plays is beautiful.

They just have not yet seen anyone try it - and win.

De Zerbi has a chance to impress the decision makers on Sunday.

His Anfield audition awaits.

Liverpool's next six fixtures

March 31: Brighton (H), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 2pm

April 4: Sheffield United (H), Premier League, kick-off 7:30pm

April 7: Manchester United (A), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 3:30pm

April 11: Atalanta (H), Europa League, kick-off 8pm

April 14: Crystal Palace (H), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 2pm

April 18: Atalanta (A), Europa League, kick-off 8pm

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Categories: LFC NEWS