Jürgen Klopp started his tenure as Germany’s head coach with a threat to leave the job if the media don’t respect his family’s privacy.
On Friday, Germany unveiled the former Liverpool boss as Julian Nagelsmann’s replacement after he departed in the wake of a penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay at the recent World Cup.
In taking charge of his country’s squad, Klopp returns to full-time management for the first time since ending his nine-year stint in charge of Liverpool.
Klopp, 59, who has signed a four-year contract, spoke for more than 45 minutes at a news conference and made it clear he had taken the role out of national pride and not because he needed to get back into soccer.
“If at any point you all think — it’s not enough for just one or two to feel this way –that I should leave, I will leave without severance pay,” Klopp said to journalists.
“If you go after my family and don’t leave them alone, I will leave.
“I’ve seen what happened with Julian [Nagelsmann] and [Thomas] Tuchel. I know it’s worse in other countries.
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“This is the only thing I ask: Criticize me for it, whether something works or whether it doesn’t work.
“You don’t need to praise me too much when it works. That should be a matter of course. If it doesn’t work, I am more than willing to work on it. “
Klopp’s appointment will see him lead Germany into the 2030 World Cup, set to be hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
As a longtime critic of the international calendar, Klopp, whose release from his Red Bull global head of soccer job involved a €1 million donation to the company’s charitable foundation and a commitment to play three matches in Leipzig, pledged to be more sympathetic to club managers.
“If someone says ‘You can’t call him in because he has done four matches in a row,’ I will say ‘fine,'” he said.
“I will not fight tooth and nail for that player; I will listen to the club coach.”
He is confident his style will transfer to the national team despite having less time to work with his squad, admitting he had not “prepared 800 training sessions.”
“The actual work on the pitch is something you can’t change. Of course, it will be much less than a club, but I don’t think I will be missing it too much,” he said.
Press Association contributed to this report.
