The coach, now at Eintracht Frankfurt, remembered one hot-headed disagreement between the two over an injured player
Jurgen Klopp is as warm and funny as he is hot-tempered, according to a former fitness coach of his at Borussia Dortmund.
Andreas Beck – not to be confused with the former Hoffenheim and Germany right-back of the same name – found himself on the wrong end of Klopp’s temper on more than one occasion but says such friction is normal in a working relationship.
Beck recalled one such occasion when a player he had been working with picked up an injury later in the training session.
‘He was just letting off steam’
Beck told Goal and SPOX: “The player felt something muscular at the end of the training session. Kloppo made a connection with my individual warm-up session and he was asking ‘why was the player doing this exercise?’
“He was just letting off steam at that moment. I felt his anger was very unjustified because he only had very general information.
“To put it simply, I did some work with his upper body before the session and he got an injury in his lower body, but I didn’t have a chance to explain it to Kloppo properly. But that might have been unwise anyway!”
What is Klopp like to work with?
“He doesn’t pretend and he is what he is,” Beck said. “Just as he can be warm and very funny, he can also be quick-tempered.
“He has a very strong opinion and it depends a little on the situation whether and when you discuss with him – that’s probably no different as a journalist.
“In a calm setting, however, there was never a problem to address matters worth discussing. Our arguments were heard and accepted.
“On the training ground in Brackel he definitely put me in my place once or twice. In the course of a productive collaboration, there is always friction.”
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