Klopp enjoys London ‘holiday’

Jurgen Klopp joked he was on holiday in north London and that the Champions League was a welcome distraction from the nightmare period his side are encountering in the Bundesliga.

It was only back in May 2013 Klopp steered his Borussia Dortmund side to the Champions League final at Wembley and they suffered the torture of giving away a last-minute goal which Arjen Robben scored to help Bayern Munich win the showpiece event.

The club have lost several big name players including Robert Lewandoski and Mario Gotze since and are now struggling to compete with their arch rivals Bayern.

Klopp was being touted for all the big jobs in England but with Dortmund currently sitting third last in the Bundesliga, the challenge facing the German coach is even bigger this time around.

It is a different story when it comes to the Champions League, with Dortmund winning all four games in Group D and Klopp wants more of the same when they face Arsenal tonight — even if it interrupts his vacation in England.

Klopp said: “I cannot change the Bundesliga situation, so it is a little bit like a holiday situation for me! If we have pressure, that is normal in football. At this moment, it is not with the crowd, with the club, but it is the pressure I make myself, and that is more than enough.”

Klopp certainly brings entertainment on and off the field. He joked through the pre-match press conference and was in fits of laughter when his press officer told reporters that ‘Everything has an end. A sausage has two’ which referred to the final two questions.

One of those was about his future and a possible move to England. Klopp continues to be talked about as a long-term successor to Arsene Wenger and although he ruled out a move in the next few months, he said a move to the Premier League would appeal to him.

Klopp added: “The only (other) language I speak is English a little bit and for my type of coaching, I need the language.

“I don’t know when. I don’t plan things like this. They asked me what do you do after Borussia Dortmund? I told them it is possible if somebody called me then, we could talk about it. But that is all. I did not say I am here on Monday.”