Bring the Noise

Let's start off by saying I amazed by the man they call Kloppo. His firy personality and his tactics. He is an interesting person. This book takes a deep dive into his coaching career.  

My only issue with the book is the chapters are so long. I absolutely hate leaving a book mid chapter but with my work schedule and this book I had to.

"For a father’s love is not measured in words, nor kisses, but in time."

Who expects lines like this in a book about football? It's a testament to the humanity and intelligence that weaves itself throughout this book. This is nominally a book about Klopp but it doesn't read like a straight biography. Honigstein spins stories between the narrative of Klopp's life; stories about about football clubs and tactics for sure, but also the stories of people who shaped Klopp's life and environment. They aren't all football stories but they always lead back it eventually. Maybe that's the point. Football isn't just sport for some people; it's a way of life.

It's easy to watch Liverpool games and see Klopp jumping around like a lunatic on the sidelines. Or to watch a press conference and be charmed by the warm, bombastic charisma of 'The Normal One'. But one thing you can have no doubt of after reading this book is that Klopp is a man of genuine intelligence and talent. He once described his style of football as "heavy metal" and accordingly his teams are always wildly fun to watch whether they're winning titles or on a train wreck of a losing streak. He embodies the triumph of ideals over stodgy pragmatism. The triumph of hard work and tactical innovation over more monied opponents (well, sometimes...but you'll have to read the book to know more about that).

The thing that struck me the most while reading this is that he tries to be a good person and do the right thing in every circumstance. He is only human however and it's inevitable that he's made mistakes and fallen out with people. Yet even those people are loathe to say anything mean-spirited about Klopp, or rehash bitter grievances. There are a lot of very intelligent and charismatic managers in the world. But it's a rarer sort of manager who endeavors to treat people with integrity and warmth no matter their position at the club. You don't have to be a Liverpool fan to enjoy reading this. I'm certainly not. But somehow...I'm now rooting for Klopp too.

Before I read this biography, I was not a big fan of Jürgen Klopp. He was the person I saw in the post game press conferences complaining about the other team's coach, the other team's tactics, and over and over again, the referees. So who better than to read and review a biography about his life? Someone who does not like him much.

"Bring the Noise: the Jürgen Klopp Story" is an interesting tale on a larger than life figure. Klopp has been a fun, joking teammate and coach, yet he expects a great deal from his players. His style, implemented in FSV Mainz 05 and continued throughout his career is a pressing, high octane, high reward style that took the Bundesliga by storm. With his runs in FSV and Borussia Dortmund, he became one of the most sought after and successful faces of the coaching in the football world. With someone who is nice and giving to his players, he expects a lot from them as well, and this means that some of the times, the disappointment in the results of their hard work overflows onto the sideline and into the videos and papers. This does not make it right, but it kind of makes it "Klopp being Klopp." 

The things that I respect from Jürgen Klopp as a player and a coach after reading this is that he has a huge work ethic. His teams in Germany were blue collar teams, not bought like Bayern Munich and Manchester United, but filled with above average to average talent that played a system that Klopp knew could beat anyone on the right day. His teams work hard and rely on that hard work to get through the games. Liverpool FC, the Premier League team he coaches presently, has a little more money, but they do also resemble the hard working teams that he had in FSV and BVB. He values effort and buying into his system over talent, and this sometimes does not work out for him.

As for his current team, Liverpool FC, there is something that I always think about when I see the results of the weekend's fixtures that the book actually addresses. When Liverpool plays the top six teams in the league, they are almost unstoppable, but when they play the teams that are at the bottom of the table or should beat handedly, they usually lose or draw. Even a few weeks ago, on November 21, during a Championship League game, Liverpool was playing Sevilla FC, they were leading 3-0 at the half, but ended up with a 3-3 draw, to a team that they should have beat handedly. I do not know how this affects the future of Klopp in Liverpool, but the problem is noticeable, and sometimes of an drawback to Klopp's Liverpool team. 

This shows that there is some fairness in Honigstein's biography. Sometimes it does feel like a bit of a fluff piece, how great Klopp is as a person, but there are moments where real issues are raised, even without a solid answer, besides underperformance. After reading it, I do like Jürgen Klopp a little bit more, and I will keep a closer eye on Liverpool FC, but there will always be those moments of "Klopp being Klopp," that will make me laugh. The good lesson that "Bring the Noise" teaches is that Klopp is only like this because he cares about his team, his players, and most importantly about football.