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Jürgen Klopp said he wants his team to “change a country” after being confirmed as Germany’s new head coach, but threatened to stand down if his family are hounded by the media during his time in charge.
In a forthright first press conference upon his unveiling as Julian Nagelsmann’s replacement, Klopp also suggested the role will be his final job in top-level football and expressed regret after poking fun at his predecessor while working as a television pundit during the World Cup. He is tasked with reviving Germany, who lost to Paraguay in the last 32 and have not made the last 16 since winning the tournament in 2014.
It marks a return to the dugout for Klopp two years after leaving Liverpool, where he ended a glorious nine-season tenure after explaining he felt fatigued. Since January 2025 he has worked as head of global soccer for Red Bull but a comeback to frontline action had appeared inevitable since Nagelsmann departed on 3 July.
Klopp vowed to transform a deeply fractured relationship between the national team and Germany’s public, citing his work at Liverpool as an example of the way football can galvanise a wider community.
“I want to create a situation where fans go home after the game and say: ‘Wow, that was cool,’” he said. “I want people to say: ‘Wow, it was worth putting the TV on for 90 minutes to see Germany play.’ I’ve lived and experienced how football can change a city. And I think it’s not only about cities, it’s also about the country. Ideally, football can change a country.”
The 59-year-old’s contract will run until after the 2030 World Cup. Klopp, however, warned that he would not tolerate invasive treatment from journalists and that he would be prepared to depart without compensation if he felt his family’s privacy had been violated.
“I’m taking this job even though I’ve seen how you treated Nagelsmann,” he said. “I’m taking this job even though I’ve seen how you’ve treated, in England, Thomas Tuchel. The day you don’t want me any more, I’m gone, without any severance pay. If you say tomorrow: ‘He’s shit,’ tell me to my face and I’m out. If you behave badly and don’t leave my family in peace, I’m gone, I’ll just turn away.
“Criticise me if something doesn’t work. Jürgen Klopp is not going to have any career after the national team. This is the pinnacle of my career as a coach. I will give it everything I’ve got.”
Klopp was criticised last month when, speaking with the former Germany player Thomas Müller on television during coverage of the group stage match with Curaçao, he appeared to hint Nagelsmann’s days were numbered by saying he was “still” picking the team. That was followed by a quick apology; Klopp repeated the sentiment on Friday and said the pair have yet to speak since his appointment was confirmed.
“We haven’t had any exchange,” he said, wishing Nagelsmann a happy 39th birthday for Thursday. “It was a joke. In retrospect it was one of the worst ‘funny’ remarks I have ever made. I feel awfully sorry, I’ve apologised a million times.
“It was just a rash thing to say, with no ulterior motive whatsoever, and I can only wish him the best.
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“Now he can go on to pastures new and I’m absolutely sure he will have many opportunities to coach a big team in future.”
Klopp promised Germany will play expansive football with wingers but admitted they must find their own way to compete with the depth of talent available elsewhere. “Success is performance relative to expectations,” he said. “When we ask in Germany: ‘Are we as good as France?’ and the answer is no, that’s not true. If we ask: ‘Do we have players like Dembélé, Mbappé, Doué and Barcola?’, no we don’t, but we can still beat them.
“We don’t want to play like Argentina, Spain, England or France. We want to do it the German way, very intense. Are we the No 1 team right now? No, we accept that. There are 11 teams ahead of us in the ranking. We can beat them, but for this to happen we need to play very good, very intense football.”
International football will demand a change of rhythm for Klopp after a lifetime spent in the domestic game. “I think contact with a team is not necessarily about working with them day in, day out,” he said. “Sometimes it will be 30 minutes or an hour and that will be on the pitch. But all of them have a mobile. I’ll talk to them, listen to them, watch games and give my feedback. That, too, is developing players and making them better.”
Klopp’s reign will begin with a baptism of fire in Amsterdam against the Netherlands on 24 September, one of four Nations League games in the space of 11 days. “The players have to show me, and not just say it, that playing for Germany is a super special thing,” he said.
