Jurgen Klopp describes brutal early training sessions - 'Coaches would be jailed now'

Daily Mirror

28-04-2025

Ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp talks about being forced to take salt tablets as a youngster as part of draconian training sessions during his early playing days
Liverpool legend Jurgen Klopp has revealed the pain he used to endure as a youngster in brutal training sessions and said coaches doing the same today would 'go to jail.' The former Anfield boss spoke openly about the way he and his teammates were treated as apprentices over 30 years ago.
He even claimed they were forced to run in searing heat after being forced to take salt tablets and denied access to water. Klopp said: "You'd go to jail for the kind of athletic training we had back then. When I was young, they gave us salt tablets and didn't let us drink. It was 40 degrees outside, we were dried out and told to push ourselves to the limit. We were completely dried out."
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Speaking during a panel on youth football at the Leipzig Arena, Klopp slammed the shocking way in which budding soccer players were treated. He added: 'They just wanted us to empty the tank completely. It was a totally different mentality. You had to fight through everything, no matter how senseless it was.' Klopp, now 57, began his football journey in southern Germany' s picturesque Black Forest region.
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He rapidly quickly made a name for himself as a tall, goal-hungry striker with the nickname 'The Tall One.' He went on to tell the panel: 'Our youth academies are good. Talent isn't the problem. What we need are opportunities. It's the responsibility of coaches not only to teach technique, tactics, and fitness – but to create real chances for young players. Everyone wants to find talent – but then forgets they need help with the next step. We love the finished product, but we don't care how they got there. That needs to change.'
'I will use all my influence to create opportunities and space for young players. That's a promise.' Klopp was appointed Liverpool manager in 2015 and led them to Champions League glory in 2019 and the Premiership in 2020. From small-town beginnings at SV Glatten and TuS Ergenzingen, Klopp worked his way up through lower-league sides like Pforzheim and several Frankfurt-based clubs, before landing at Mainz 05 in 1990.
There, he made both German football history as both a player and coach – taking Mainz to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2004. What followed proved legendary as two German league titles and a cup with Borussia Dortmund.
Now, after stepping down in 2024, Klopp is running the show at Red Bull as their Head of Global Soccer and there he's signed to stay there until 2029. Liverpool will win the Premiership title on Sunday if they beat Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. Klopp said he will return to Merseyside once the title has been secured so he can celebrate with the supporters who still adore him. He has said that he will be a Liverpool fan 'for life'.
There have been rumours he might be enticed back to management with Spanish giants Real Madrid who may be parting with ex Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti. But his agent Marc Kosicke told Sky Germany recently: 'Jürgen is very happy with his new role as head of global soccer at Red Bull. He's fully focused and happy there.' Klopp himself wrote on Instagram: 'A few months ago I said I don't see myself on the sidelines any more and that is still the case. But I still love football, I still love working and Red Bull gives me the perfect platform for that.'