'I like the total intensification, when there are crashes and bangs everywhere, pure adrenaline and no one being able to breathe'
Jürgen Klopp's super-sized personality and all-or-nothing style of football and management made him the perfect choice to pump up the volume at Anfield. The appointment sparked hysteria in the city with fans and club officials delighted to get the coach theyd long admired from afar and eager to see the impact he would have on the club and the Premier League.
With exclusive access to Klopp's friends, family, colleagues and players, Raphael Honigstein goes behind-the-scenes at Liverpool, Mainz and Dortmund to tell the definitive story of Klopps career, transformative footballing genius and how he is bringing the noise to Anfield. Klopp's the manager to turn players into winners, to get that little bit more from them and transform teams like mid-table Borussia Dortmund into title winners and one of Europes most acclaimed sides in just two seasons.
Hes authentic, approachable and funny, charming media and fans alike. Hes also merciless and exceptionally driven, his quick temper bubbling away barely under the surface.
Expectations have been high and even when results havent gone their way, Liverpools exciting football and Klopps pitch-side passion have enthralled, culminating in a triumphant return to Champions League football.
Kloppfollows his story from its Black Forest beginnings, as a player with 'fifth division skills and a first division brain', his accidental fall into management and the success at Mainz and Dortmund which paved the way to Anfield.
Raphael Honigstein is the UKs top expert on German football. He is a columnist for theGuardianand ESPN, writes forSüddeutsche Zeitungin Germany and appears as a pundit for BT Sport and ESPN as well as Sky in Germany. He is also a regular fixture on theGuardians award-winning podcast, Football Weekly. His first book,Englischer Fussball, was shortlisted for Football Book of the Year and his latest book isDas Reboot: How German Football Reinvented Itself and Conquered the World.