- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,266,358
- Reaction score
- 59
Germany's 2014 World Cup hero Mario Götze has revealed he was close to joining Liverpool and being reunited with coach Jürgen Klopp 10 years ago and "100%" regrets not making the move to Anfield.
Götze told The Athletic that his return to Borussia Dortmund after three years at Bayern Munich was "not the right idea" and that he snubbed Liverpool because he didn't consider them good enough at the time.
He said he decided in favour of Dortmund in 2016 "because they had played the best season they ever played.
"Thomas Tuchel was coach. They gained the most points they ever gained in a Bundesliga season. I thought, ‘OK, I know the surroundings. They have a good team. Maybe we can challenge Bayern," he said.
Looking at Liverpool, where Klopp had started in the autumn of 2015 after seven years in Dortmund during which Götze had entered the team, Götze said: "Liverpool was close. Klopp was there. I was in Liverpool visiting him.
"I really liked the idea of going to him, but the club was in a not-so-good situation. They played in the Europa League and I came from Bayern, winning the World Cup, playing Champions League every time, always coming in the semi-finals, and that was my expectation.
"I didn’t understand at that point that some things need time. In the rear view, of course it’s easy, but that’s my learning."
He said he now "100%" regrets not making the move, saying: "Then I try to understand: Was it the club, or was it Klopp, that made me the player and person I was in Dortmund? When I look at it through the rear view, he had such a big impact on me and the club."
Götze, who scored Germany's winner in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina and nowadays plays at Eintracht Frankfurt, praised Klopp, who is now set to become German national team coach.
"What he understands, and what most coaches may not, is how to manage people," Götze said.
"Managing players, managing expectations, putting people together as a whole, he understood that in the perfect way. He can be very sharp about what he wants and demands. That’s why he was so successful."
Continue reading...
Götze told The Athletic that his return to Borussia Dortmund after three years at Bayern Munich was "not the right idea" and that he snubbed Liverpool because he didn't consider them good enough at the time.
He said he decided in favour of Dortmund in 2016 "because they had played the best season they ever played.
"Thomas Tuchel was coach. They gained the most points they ever gained in a Bundesliga season. I thought, ‘OK, I know the surroundings. They have a good team. Maybe we can challenge Bayern," he said.
Looking at Liverpool, where Klopp had started in the autumn of 2015 after seven years in Dortmund during which Götze had entered the team, Götze said: "Liverpool was close. Klopp was there. I was in Liverpool visiting him.
"I really liked the idea of going to him, but the club was in a not-so-good situation. They played in the Europa League and I came from Bayern, winning the World Cup, playing Champions League every time, always coming in the semi-finals, and that was my expectation.
"I didn’t understand at that point that some things need time. In the rear view, of course it’s easy, but that’s my learning."
He said he now "100%" regrets not making the move, saying: "Then I try to understand: Was it the club, or was it Klopp, that made me the player and person I was in Dortmund? When I look at it through the rear view, he had such a big impact on me and the club."
Götze, who scored Germany's winner in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina and nowadays plays at Eintracht Frankfurt, praised Klopp, who is now set to become German national team coach.
"What he understands, and what most coaches may not, is how to manage people," Götze said.
"Managing players, managing expectations, putting people together as a whole, he understood that in the perfect way. He can be very sharp about what he wants and demands. That’s why he was so successful."
Continue reading...
