Jurgen Klopp has spoken for the first time since he was officially confirmed as Germany‘s new manager. The former Liverpool boss has been appointed to replace Julian Nagelsmann, who stepped down after Die Mannschaft were knocked out of the World Cup in the round of 16. They were beaten on penalties by Paraguay in one of the tournament’s biggest shocks.
It didn’t take long for Nagelsmann to leave his role and it quickly became clear that Klopp was the preferred choice to succeed him. He was unveiled by the DFB on Friday morning and a press conference was held to mark his arrival in the dugout. The former Reds manager has signed a four-year contract, taking him through until the next World Cup in 2030.
After being introduced to the press pack by the DFB’s top brass, Klopp began his speech by expressing his “great respect to the role of Germany coach”.
He added: “I want to thank everyone who’s played their part in it all working out how we’d imagined. This role is the highlight of my career and I’ll give all I’ve got to be successful.”
Klopp also described Germany’s current state as “not good” and said he wanted to “look closely at things” in terms of making changes at all levels.
He continued: “I’m far from perfect. We’ve got a few weeks until the first international break. I think that’s enough time to get prepared.”
Quizzed on which of his predecessors he looks up to, Klopp replied: “I want to look towards the most successful Germany coaches who also developed in the most successful way.”
It was also confirmed that Pep Lijnders, who assisted Klopp at Liverpool, will form part of his backroom staff alongside Peter Krawietz and Sven Bender.
Meanwhile, DFB president Bernd Neuendorf explained that a board meeting produced a unanimous vote to appoint Klopp as Germany’s new head coach.
He added: “We’ve had very intense discussions. He was our ideal solution from the start and we at the DFB were unanimous in saying he was the candidate we had to talk to.
“Our talks with Jurgen only strengthened our belief that he’s the right man at the right time.”
Neuendorf also confirmed that instead of paying compensation to Red Bull, the DFB will make a donation of €1million (£855,075) to the company’s Wings for Life foundation.