There is a strong story about Jurgen Klopp that reveals enough about him as a man and his way of governing. Andy Robertson was expected to sign a new signing to be a first-time father and the Liverpool manager baffled that a colleague was unaware of him. “How can you not know that? That’s the biggest thing in life now.”
This is news that cuts to the heart of Klopp’s philosophy. His stated goal is always to “leave room and try to make sure people don’t feel worse from the moment you came in” at the heart of his success. It is only now that football is beginning to understand why it is so important.
Industry has proven this. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella argues that empathy makes you a better innovator, while George Anders, senior editor at LinkedIn, says it’s the most important work skill . In 2015, the top 10 companies on the World Empire Index increased in value twice as much as those companies at the bottom.
Football is more conservative. Techniques are tried and trusted, while innovation is viewed with suspicion. Edu Rubio, a highly respected Spanish coach working at the Crystal Palace academy, wants to change that by putting mental health at the heart of the schedule.
“This is a cultural movement,” Rubio explains Sky Sports. “It’s about changing attitudes in football and realizing that this has to be part of our job. Mind training is important.
“Feelings and emotions are worked out as something for the weak. How many times do we hear if you’re a player that means you’re struggling, you sacrifice, you train and you In some part-time team he talks about the fact that he’s still about people asking you to put your balls on the line.There’s still room for that.It could create a change in the second half .
“But in the long run we need to recognize that players who have problems are people and the more you do to deal with those problems the better off you will be. “
Rubio has previously coached U23 at MK Dons and is assistant manager at Crawley. He recently received British citizenship and is passionate about British football. He still wants to change.
“With mental health in football clubs, it’s always, ‘There’s a psychologist, go and talk to him.’ When are you going to talk to that person? Just when you’re really down. It’s awful to decide to talk to someone about your problems. The other thing you hear is , ‘Here are the phone numbers you can call.’ I don’t think that’s enough.
“I don’t see any manager who gives you a personal trainer number and tells you, ‘If you want to go for a workshop down the gym, call this number.’ way.
“We have strength and condition coaches, sports scientists, schedule-linked gym sessions. We think about training sessions, workplaces and video analysis sessions as a whole. , we are no longer different.
“We’ve even gone further with nutrition too. We have a nutritionist who not only gives you the diet but who gives it to the chefs in the kitchen and they do everything.
“Why don’t we do that when we’re working on our emotions and dealing with ourselves?”
Rubio plans to do just that, launching My Energy Game, something it hopes to develop into an app in partnership with a group of coaches and psychologists who offer one-to-one support. one, online tools and workshops. He seems to be aware that he could be considered a sort of guru preaching idea taken out of the mainstream, but he is still a football man.
“I’m not saying people should do three hours of yoga meditation,” he laughs.
“That’s a problem – we take things very seriously. I’m a football coach. I’m a UEFA Pro License coach. I’m a sports scientist. I’m proud to run the same per cent.
“But I am also a person with emotions who understands that a player is not going to be able to prepare for set pieces as well as they can if they are not comfortable in their own skin, motivated and happy. time to be brave enough to admit that. “
At the time of small gains, the big gain was neglected.
“It’s been about that one percent. I was so caught up in thinking by myself. We run that one percent in the gym and with the nutrition.
“This is not about forgetting that. Let’s develop that. But also, let’s start looking at the 80 percent. We’ve focused on those narrow benefits but 80 percent. about how that person feels, not working with the person.
“That doesn’t mean there are no managers with that mindset. I believe Jurgen Klopp is one of those managers who cares to look after the man.”
For all the talk about the wonders of gegenpressing and Michael Edwards ’miraculous recruitment tactics at Liverpool, this is perhaps what gives Klopp the edge.
“I see Jurgen Klopp doing all that tactical work with a player. But I also see Jurgen Klopp sitting and having coffee with a player, asking him about his family and worries and what he would think about his strengths and how he coaches him.
“I don’t think we’ll do enough of that 80 per cent because once you’re in the right mind, all these ideas about how to play 4-3-3, how to the case of the defensive block, as you follow all sorts of game strategies, you are in the best position to understand everything. “
Klopp may not have formalized his approach. There is no ordered difference in his club’s curriculum than Liverpool’s Premier League rivals. But that difference could still be there.
Mario Gotze worked under both Klopp and Pep Guardiola, noting their different approaches. “He’s very focused on the game and he doesn’t think about players outside of his plan,” World Cup winner Guardiola said of him. “He didn’t have much sympathy.”
For Klopp, that empathy is intuitive.
“I’m not pretending I’m interested, I’m interested.”
Sir Alex Ferguson may not have described himself as the prototype sports director at Manchester United but in his broad role, dedicating to experts, setting the strategy and shaping the culture, it still happened. on a leadership model that was the envy of all.
Perhaps Klopp, in his own way, is doing something similar to Liverpool when it comes to managing people and unlocking the full potential of the players in his care.
Rubio hopes for a more formal model recognizing that this is the right way forward. “I think self-improvement and technology is the future of this decade,” he explains. “Everything that has happened in the past year has given impetus to that thinking. .
“It’s very fashionable to talk about working in a holistic way but I don’t think we’ve gone deep enough with it yet. Success would be a cultural movement in this decade in which we all recognize the importance of working on the human being. we are achieving that as a business by 2030 and working on your emotions is as normal as going into the gym, that is success. “
Until then, coaches like Jurgen Klopp will have the edge.