‘I can see him gleaming at me from the side.’
Premier League defender James Tarkowski has explained the effect that Jurgen Klopp’s pre-match ritual has on him as a player preparing to play Liverpool.
Klopp always stands on the half way line and watches the opposition go through their warm up, and he does this for every single game.
A towering figure over 6’1 and a powerful aura surrounding him giving how successful he has been, means that this can be quite an intimidating experience for the other team.
The Everton star revealed to former goalkeeper Ben Foster, how the process made him feel when he would see the German native staring at him.
Speaking on The Fozcast, the Toffees defender responded: “Always, because I always warm up right near the halfway line.
“I like to be that end of the warm ups so I’m always quite high and can see (Klopp) gleaming at me from the side.
“I’m thinking ‘I better make sure this pass is right’, or he’s going to walk into the dressing room and say ‘that Tarkowski’s having one in the warm-up, go and play on him’.
Foster claimed that he felt similarly to Tarkowski, having come up against Klopp’s sides numerous times before retiring last year after his stint with Wrexham.
However, the shot stopper claimed Klopp’s main motive behind this ritual, is not to imitate the team, but to learn something from them.
Klopp said: “No, I didn’t know that. I don’t do it for that. I do it so I can (identify) a technical or a tactical something I can pick up on.
“Because sometimes you will get some teams that will set up their actual shape and position in the warm-up.
“And if I see a left-back or a right-back will come inside or might stay… I might just clock it a little bit and I might mention it to the players before I go.
“I definitely don’t do it to try and intimidate players.”
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