While working under Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, Marco Stiepermann revealed he was ‘fascinated’ by the German coach’s ‘greedy’ football philosophy
Stiepermann rose through Dortmund’s youth system before breaking into the first team in 2009, when Klopp was in charge at the Westfalenstadion.
He left the club in 2012 after only seven senior appearances and later joined Norwich City, where he spent four years.
Stiepermann is currently on the books at Wuppertaler SV but will leave at the end of the season to take over as manager of amateur side ASC 09 Dortmund, where he hopes to emulate Klopp’s success.
Klopp was on the verge of completing a historic treble with Liverpool last season, but Manchester City pipped them to the Premier League title before falling to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Liverpool have struggled to live up to expectations this season, having been eliminated from Europe as well as both domestic cup competitions.
In the meantime, they are sixth in the Premier League, 27 points behind league leaders Arsenal.
Klopp made us greedy, according to Stiepermann.
Despite a dip in form this season, Klopp has undeniably improved Liverpool since his arrival at Anfield in 2015, with the German famously referring to his team as “mentality monsters.”
Stiepermann’s teams in Mainz and Dortmund demonstrated a similar level of hunger, and he hopes to replicate that with his own squads.
“Even as a young player, I was fascinated by how Klopp[Jurgen Klopp] was able to grab us as a team from the first to the last man and instill this greed in us,” Stiepermann told German newspaper BILD.
Even today, you get the impression that all of the players adore him. I’ll also bring everyone with me.
“For a few years, we were the most repulsive team against the ball. I want to instill that in my boys as well. A dear team that does not work effectively against the ball will fail.”
He also paid tribute to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, both of whom have been involved in a thrilling title race this season.
“I want to play possession-oriented,” Stiepermann added.
“That’s why I’m currently studying a lot of games from Pep Guardiola of Manchester City and Mikel Arteta of Arsenal – their football is the best in this area.”
“Even if we only get one percent of that, we’ll be on the right track.” I’m taking over a technically strong team capable of playing possession football.”
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