Ex-Dortmund physio lifts lid on Klopp’s ‘balls’

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp always “had the balls to apologise” if he thought he was out of line, according to former Borussia Dortmund physiotherapist Frank Zollner.

Zollner spent close to 20 years working for Dortmund between 1992 and 2009 with the club winning three Bundesliga titles while he was at the club, including two with Klopp.

Klopp has led Liverpool to the brink of their first English league title for 30 years after building a 25-point lead on nearest rivals Manchester City.

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“He’s a special guy,” Zollner told Goal and SPOX of Klopp. “There were so many days when you’d think: ‘Great guy!’, but sometimes you’d think: ‘What an egocentric!’.

“One time, Jakub Blaszczykowski called me when he was coming back from the [Polish] national team. He said he couldn’t train because of a muscle injury but would still come to the team meeting.

“Before the meeting, I went to Klopp with Kuba (Blaszczykowski) and told him what was going on. He then went pretty crazy, probably because he had only just learned about Kuba’s injury at that moment.

“Zeljko Buvac (Klopp’s former assistant) would often appear at such moments and say: ‘Kloppo, smoke a cigarette now and calm down!’. He was one of the best assistant coaches I’ve ever worked under. But Kloppo had the balls to apologise when the way he treated someone was too much.”