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Jürgen Klopp made a strong start to his new job as Germany coach on Friday, drawing red lines on which he would consider resigning even before his turnaround effort with a team that failed once again in the World Cup.
In a combative first press conference, the former Liverpool manager warned German media that he will resign if he believes they are invading his family’s privacy.
He also hinted that Germany could be his last coaching job and admitted he has not been an avid follower of international matches.
Klopp aims for Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup
Klopp was the German federation’s top target and has now signed a contract until the 2030 World Cup. In his presentation on Friday, he said it was “a great honor” to accept the job and noted it could be his last position as coach.
Klopp said on Friday he would be willing to leave without any compensation if things don’t work out or if criticism becomes overwhelming, and threatened to resign if the media doesn’t “leave my family alone.”
“Jürgen Klopp has no career after the national team,” he stated. “Ideally, this would be the highlight of my career, my life, my work life. I’ll put everything I can into it.”
He replaces Julian Nagelsmann, who resigned amid heavy criticism after Germany’s loss to Paraguay prevented Germany from reaching the round of 16 of a men’s World Cup for the third consecutive time.
Klopp indicated he believed Nagelsmann and England manager Thomas Tuchel had been treated unfairly in the media. “I’m doing the job even though I’ve heard how you treated Julian, even though I’ve heard how England treats Tuchel,” he said, without specifying what exactly he thought the problem was.
Klopp wants to make German football cool again
It is Klopp’s first coaching role since he left Liverpool in 2024 citing fatigue. He said he was “loaded” on comments while holding talks about the position in Germany.
Klopp noted that he plans to make some surprising team selections and said that his mission is not only to win games but also to bring enthusiasm back to the team.
Klopp himself admitted that “it had been a while” since he had watched national team matches outside of the big tournaments.
“I want to create something with the national team that means people go home after the game and think ‘That was really cool’. That’s what I would like to happen,” he said.
Klopp’s arrival follows talks during the World Cup
Klopp, known for his exciting “heavy metal football” in Liverpool, was Germany’s preferred candidate as soon as Nagelsmann resigned.
After weeks of talks, the 59-year-old German (20 years older than Nagelsmann) remained in the United States as a World Cup expert for a German-language station.
The federation has also held talks with the Red Bull group, where Klopp has spent the last year and a half as “head of global football” advising its global group of football clubs.
German federation president Bernd Neuendorf said a typical release fee would not be paid to Red Bull for Klopp. Instead, the federation pays one million euros ($1.14 million) to a charity linked to Red Bull and agreed to hold three national team matches in the eastern city of Leipzig, where Red Bull supports the city’s Bundesliga team.
Klopp faces a difficult introduction to his first national team job with four Nations League games in 11 days against the Netherlands, Greece and Serbia in late September and early October. The first big milestone will be the 2028 Euro Cup.
Mertesacker joins Klopp in Germany set-up
Germany has not won a World Cup knockout match since beating Argentina in the 2014 final. Now a player from that team will work alongside Klopp.
Former defender Per Mertesacker joins Klopp as the federation’s new sporting director general, with a role overseeing the German men’s national teams and an emphasis on developing youth team players into senior team stars. He will take up the role in January and joins after eight years at the helm of Arsenal’s academy.
Klopp is reunited with two of his assistants from his Liverpool days, Peter Krawietz and Pep Lijnders, weeks after Lijnders left his position as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Man City. Former German player Sven Bender also plays the role of assistant.
In an unusual deal, Klopp’s former agent Marc Kosicke joins the coaching team in a role focused on strategy and administration, but will not be employed by the association.
Associated Press information.
