Jurgen Klopp was asked at Friday’s press conference how he thought the long break affected the two teams that meet on Saturday, and he answered in two parts. As for Brighton, he is excited about what new coach Roberto de Zerbe will bring to the team following Graham Potter’s departure to Chelsea.
Usually when you change managers it’s because the previous manager was fired because things didn’t go well. Klopp said Brighton have done very well and now they have an exciting new coach.
Klopp said Brighton are doing a great job and have done a great job at Sassuolo and Shakhtar.
Suitable for Brighton
In his press conference, De Zerbe was very clear that he respects Klopp very much, and that respect appears to be mutual.
– He is a very brave and influential coach. “I don’t know how good his English is at the moment and that might be a bit of a challenge, but apart from that, he has a football philosophy that suits Brighton,” Klopp said.
They are a team that plays football, but we don’t know anything more than that when it comes to what we can expect. How ‘old’ and how ‘new’ is Brighton? The only thing we know is that they are a very good team and were in great shape before the break.
Klopp was also asked how he’s adapting to a new league, especially one you didn’t know before.
My colleague here seems adventurous, having moved from Sassuolo to Shakhtar, and seems content to do his job wherever he may be if it is required. But Klopp said the Premier League is the place everyone wants, and this is a huge opportunity for him.
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The German reveals the biggest challenge when he came to England.
– What I struggled with the most were all the emails I thought I should read someday – in another language. It took a lot of time.
“But the inbox is my best friend when I can leave emails alone,” Klopp said.
He is excited about what de Zerbe will achieve.
– It’s tough. For example, should we prepare for set-pieces in Brighton or set-pieces in Shakhtar Donetsk? Maybe we should just ignore everything and fend for ourselves as best we can. This is the situation we are in.
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