Liverpool's Jürgen Klopp wins The Best FIFA Men's Coach 2020
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp picked up the The Best FIFA Men's Coach, beating off competition from Hansi Flick and Marcelo Bielsa.
Jürgen Klopp picked up the The Best FIFA Men's Coach in Zurich on Thursday – it’s been quite a week for the Liverpool manager who less than 24 hours earlier watched his team go top of the Premier League table with a 2-1 win over Tottenham. Klopp seemed genuinely surprised himself when his name was read out by Arsène Wenger as the winner, beating the other two candidates Hansi Flick and Marcelo Bielsa – as gala host Reshmin Chowdhury noted, “Jürgen, your face says it all, you’re shocked!”
Klopp acknowledges coaching team
“I am, I am!” a beaming Klopp replied, via video-link from Liverpool’s Academy in Kirkby. “So, thank you very much! Wow! Honestly I have so many people to thank – especially, most of all, my coaches. If I had known that we would win it, then they would all have been here. So I have to thank Pep Lijnders, Pete Krawietz, John Achterberg, Vitor Matos and Jack Robinson because what we did in the last few years is really special and it’s all about these boys so it is a big pleasure”
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“I had no idea how it would feel ad it felt overwhelming but I wouldn’t want to miss out on the Champions League trophy as well so to have both was nice. I am not the best men’s coach but I won the award so that’s good enough!”
Van Dijk as surprised as Klopp
Klopp later did a sit-down interview with Liverpool's club web page in which he echoed his thanks for all of the people who are working behind the scenes and who all play a part in the team's successes. "I didn't expect it and Virg told me later he was as surprised as I am. We have to say 'Thank You' - especially on behalf of all my coaching staff because, as a group, we won it again. That's clear - without them, I would not be here and we would not have had the success we had and all of that stuff. Without the boys, the players, it would not have been possible - Arsene Wenger said it exactly right when they asked him what makes a good coach, a world class team helps. And I have that, thank God. I work at a sensational club, get all the support you need, I have only great people around me so we come here, in difficult times, and every day with a smile on our face - that all makes it easier and makes it possible. I said a couple of times I am not the biggest believer in these kinds of individual awards for coaches but I have learned that we should just take it, for all of us, Obviously we cannot change the world, so one face gets the prize but it's for all of us and I'm really proud of that"