6 months ago
100 Jurgen Klopp is a managerial genius.
There are no two ways about it, Klopp is one of the great footballing minds of the 21st century.
He knows the game like the back of his hand, but what’s more important is that he knows how to coach any player.
Klopp knows when a player needs an arm around the shoulder or when they need a dressing down, while he also knows how to manage any player tactically.
Speaking on Liverpool’s YouTube channel, Klopp has been discussing his journey over the years at Anfield, and he made an interesting claim about what it’s like to coach Divock Origi.
Divock Origi rarely got instructions from Jurgen Klopp
Klopp stated that he never gave Divock Origi too many instructions at Liverpool, particularly ahead of the famous Barcelona game, claiming that he would just let him fly.
“When you prepare for a game you prepare an amount, especially for a game like that, but we were really discussing what do we do with Divock, what do we tell him to do and from what point do we just let him fly?” Klopp said.
“That was it, you can give tactical instructions, that’s really important, but if you give too many a player doesn’t have an iPad on the pitch saying ‘oh yeah he said that as well, I forgot.’ It has to be on point, and that is coaching.”
Divock Origi didn’t need instructions
Klopp says that he would just let Origi fly without too many tactical instructions, and that is exactly the right approach for this type of player.
Origi spent a lot of his time at Liverpool acting as a super sub off the bench, and when your only task is to come on and score a late winner, you’re best off not conforming to tactical plans.
Chaos is often the name of the game if you’re coming off the bench, and say what you will about Origi as a player, he always knew how to make something happen.
The £10m man was certainly a useful weapon for Klopp at Liverpool.
