Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he took inspiration from the All Blacks on his way to guiding Liverpool towards their first Premier League title in 30 years.
While the All Blacks – once considered the greatest team in all of sport – were knocked off their perch at last year'sRugby World Cup, it appears their influence and culture has continued to inspire teams around the world.
The Liverpool manager said he plans to channel the spirit of the All Blacks to ensure his team still give it their all with seven games still left in their season, despite already clinching the title over the weekend.
Klopp said he discovered that All Blacks mantra of giving your all for the jersey when he watched a documentary about the New Zealand rugby team early in his managerial career.
"We feel in the middle of something, not the end of something," he said. "We have to give everything until we finish our careers. As long as you wear this shirt, less than 100% is not allowed.
"That is not my phrase, it came from the All Blacks. I saw that in a nice documentary about the All Blacks and I kept that always for myself. That is for each LFC player the same and for me the same."
Liverpool will next take on Manchester City, the team they deposed as Premier League champions, on Thursday where they will receive a guard of honour from Pep Guardiola's men.
"We prepare for Man City with full focus," Klopp said. "We will be prepared for the next season as well. I don't know another way.
"I've learned when you think you've reached the pinnacle you are already on the way down and we don't feel that. I don't feel finally satisfied. It's a big step but not the only thing I want to talk about with the boys in 20 years."
Jurgen Klopp. Photo / Photosport
The charismatic coach said he first watched the All Blacks documentary 19 years ago and that it has influenced his coaching philosophy since.
"It was in 2001," he said. "It was my first pre-season at Mainz and I saw this documentary in the summer break. I was completely impressed by these big fellas and how they spoke about each other.
"At that time, the All Blacks were by far the best in the world. I think they had a winning percentage of something over 70% and it was really impressive.
"They were all amateurs, maybe they got a little bit of money, I don't know. They worked as butchers, builders, all that stuff. These pretty impressive guys spoke about their past and what it meant to them to play for this team."
He even incorporated the haka into a pre-match routine while at Mainz.
"At Mainz, the last two minutes before the team bus arrived at the stadium we always listened to the haka. When the door opened I don't know if people thought a bunch of boys would come out of the bus because it was pretty loud and impressive and it gave us a little kick.
"They were the All Blacks, Mainz's main colour is red so we made ourselves the All Reds. Nobody noticed that because we were a small team but, for us, it was big. That is how it started for that team. The players really liked it. It gave us the chance from a team nobody is interested in to become a team at least we are really interested in. That helped us."
