Ahead of Liverpool’s UEFA Europa League clash against Borussia Dortmund, defender Emre Can has hailed manager Jurgen Klopp as a fun coach to work with.
Klopp already has a reputation for wearing his heart on the sleeve and his entertaining theatrics near the touchline whenever his team plays. He has been adding to that reputation ever since he moved to the English Premier League from Borussia Dortmund.
With Liverpool slated to play Dortmund, Can believes that the 48-year-old German is as emotional as managers can afford to be.
“I’ve never had such an emotional coach,” Can was quoted as saying by German publication Sport1.
“When you see him on the sidelines during games, see him springing around, then you see what type of man he is – that says it all,” he added.
Can further went on to say that Klopp is a “crazy coach” and brings a tremendous amount of energy into the training field, which helps to lift the squad’s morale.
“Jurgen Klopp is a great coach. Everyone who knows him knows he is a crazy coach, in the best possible way, and that will help the players.
“It makes it very fun to work with him and I’m learning a lot from him.”
On his relation with Klopp
The 22-year-old German international added that his relationship with Klopp is very good, just like the manager’s rapport with every other player, and said that Klopp is also eventually overcoming the language barrier.
“Our relationship is like any other player, but it’s also very, very good,” Can added. “I speak the language he speaks, so that makes it so much easier for both of us.
“We talk a lot and, on the pitch, he will often tell me something in German. I must then pass on the message to the respective players.
“We hear him laughing every day, whether when eating or during training. But that is nice, everyone likes to have positive people around them.”
As Jurgen Klopp prepares for a reunion with Borussia Dortmund, it will be interesting to see how the former Dortmund manager assesses the German team and the strategies he chooses to apply to overcome them. It would also be interesting to see how Klopp uses Emre Can — as midfielder or as a defender — given the German international’s versatility. Against Dortmund, Klopp may be inclined to use Can as a midfielder to hold Dortmund’s counter-attacking style of play, entrusting the German international with the responsibility to safeguard the Liverpool defence line.
