Jurgen Klopp’s 11 funniest moments: Ronaldo’s pants, erotic voices…
None of us at Planet Football support Liverpool, yet we just can’t help but have a soft spot for Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp may not be to everybody’s tastes, but the Liverpool boss is certainly not afraid to be himself – and we love him for it.
We’ve taken a look back at 11 of his funniest moments.
Ronaldo pants
Tensions were understandably high in the Liverpool dressing room ahead of the Champions League final against Real Madrid in 2018.
And so instead of playing up to the occasion, Klopp decided to punctuate the nerves in his pre-match team-talk, slowly lifting his shirt to tuck into his noticeably branded boxers.
“We saw he was wearing the boxer shorts of Cristiano Ronaldo,” Georginio Wijnaldum told The Athletic.
“He did the meeting with his shirt stuffed inside his ‘CR7’ boxers. The whole changing room was on the floor laughing their heads off.
“That really broke the ice. Usually in those situations, everyone is serious and concentrated. But he was relaxed and made this joke.”
Rocky Balboa
When Adrian saved the decisive penalty in the Super Cup victory over Chelsea, Klopp was always going to do this.
"ADRIAN!!!!!!!!"
Of course Jurgen Klopp has gone full Rocky Balboa on us 😂
🎤 @DesKellyBTS pic.twitter.com/BZzG4hNXxo
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 14, 2019
Slapstick slip
In the same interview with Wijnaldum for The Athletic, the Netherlands midfielder recalled a training ground incident in which Klopp was angry with Jordan Henderson.
Henderson had ignored warnings not to train due to an injury, only to do it anyway, pull up and have to leave the session early.
“Jurgen was like, ‘I told you not to train and you still did it,’” Wijnaldum said. “He was already really angry, shouting. But Hendo didn’t even react. He just walked.
“Jurgen took his cap, threw it on the ground, wanting to kick it. But when he tried, he slipped and fell on his back.
“He stood up immediately and tried to kick it again. And he kicked it. The whole thing was on camera so everyone was laughing afterwards, I think I watched it 10 times.
“Later we had a quiz about it at a team event. And Jurgen could laugh about it, too.”
Hair transplant
It’s no secret that Klopp had a hair transplant during his time at Borussia Dortmund, and it became a hot topic in Germany – not that he showed any embarrassment.
“I have never met a manager in football who was so naturally funny,” Mario Gotze told The Player’s Tribune.
“I will never forget the time I ran into him in Dusseldorf during the summer. He was going to see the specialist there to have his hair transplant done.
“This became big news in Germany, but he was so funny about it. He was smiling, telling me all about it – how cool it was going to look and everything.
“And then as he was leaving, he just gave me a wink and he said, ‘Mario, don’t worry, I will save the phone number.’
“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘The doctor’s number. I’ll save it for you. In a few years, you might need it.’
“Then he laughed and walked off. Most people would be embarrassed or not say anything, but he didn’t care at all.
“He was such a funny and positive influence on everyone around him.”
Erotic voices
It can be quite hard to concentrate when a translator has a somewhat sexy voice.
"That's a very erotic voice by the way".
Jurgen Klopp was a big fan of the translator's voice today…#OptusSport #UCL #PSGLIV pic.twitter.com/mBpLvTSFRQ
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) November 28, 2018
Paying the rent
Since replacing Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool boss, Klopp has had the slightly awkward arrangement of renting his predecessor’s house.
Ahead of Leicester’s crucial visit to Manchester City last season, Klopp needed Rodgers to do Liverpool a favour by stealing points from their title rivals.
But in the event of the Foxes failing to do so – they ultimately lost 1-0 – Klopp did have one alternative: refusing to pay his landlord.
“Can I? In Germany that’s not possible, but if it is in England then tell me!,” he joked in a press conference.
F*cking giants
This speaks for itself, although it’s worth adding Gary Lineker quite wonderfully refused to apologise for Klopp getting a bit sweary live on TV.
Jurgen Klopp in his post-match interview:
🗣 ‘It’s ten past ten. Most children are probably in bed. These boys are f****** giants!’ 😅👏#LFC #LIVBAR #YNWA #UCLpic.twitter.com/wosCc7pT0B
— GiveMeSport Football (@GMS__Football) May 7, 2019
Christmas party
In the wake of Wayne Rooney making headlines for being a little worse for wear in 2016, Klopp expressed his sympathy for the Manchester United man.
The German had been caught out himself before after going to a Christmas party while manager of Mainz. Sadly his costume left a lot to be desired.
“In our situation…we had 11 points and we were last in the Bundesliga table,” Klopp said.
“We had a Christmas break and friends of ours wanted to have a party in the city. Nobody (had) seen me because I had a mask. I didn’t feel too good, but I needed a little bit of help and I went out.
“Then at the end there was one point when you are a little bit drunk, so I lifted the mask and then the next thing there is a picture. The mask? It was Santa Claus!
“The next day Bild said, ‘That is how Klopp celebrates 18th place.'”
Half pissed
If you can’t enjoy yourself after winning the Champions League final, when can you?
Jurgen Klopp is already “half pissed” 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/InyxZF5QjM
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) June 1, 2019
Let’s talk about six baby
If you can’t be a bit embarrassing after winning the Champions League final, when can you?
CRITICS: Jurgen, you keep losing finals. Why are you alwa…..
KLOPP: Let's talk about six, baby. Let's talk about you and me.pic.twitter.com/QBRqqdjwss
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 1, 2019
Schalke
Klopp has always had a way with words, so we’ll end with his quote when asked by a supporter of Schalke – Borussia Dortmund’s great rivals – what is the secret to winning Bundesliga…
“How do you explain to a blind person what colour is?”
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