Manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp talks with Robert Lewandowski of FC Bayern Muenchen after the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Bayern Muenchen and Liverpool at Allianz Arena on March 13, 2019 in Munich, Bavaria.
Former Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski claims Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was like the “bad teacher” at school who pushed you to go further.
Klopp coached Lewandowski for four years between 2010 and 2014, with the Poland international bagging 103 goals in 187 appearances.
That led to the 32-year-old’s move to Bayern Munich where he has gone on to win a Champions League medal and six more Bundesliga titles, with his 269 goals in 309 appearances propelling the German giants to glory.
And Lewandowski has labelled current Liverpool boss Klopp as a “genius” but also a “bad teacher” that helped him to hit his goalscoring heights.
Speaking to The Players’ Tribune on his relationship with Klopp, Lewandowski said: “Jurgen was not only a father figure to me. As a coach, he was like the “bad” teacher. And I mean that in the best sense of the word.
“Let me explain. Think back to you when you were in school. Which teacher do you remember the most? Not the one who made life easy for you and never expected anything from you. No, no, no. You remember the bad teacher, the one who was strict with you. The one who put pressure on you and did everything to get the best out of you. That’s the teacher who made you better, right? And Jurgen was like that.
“He was not content to let you be a B student, you know? Jurgen wanted A+ students. He didn’t want it for him. He wanted it for you.
“He taught me so much. When I arrived at Dortmund, I wanted to do everything quickly: strong pass, one touch only. Jurgen showed me to calm down – to take two touches if necessary.
“It was totally against my nature, but soon I was scoring more goals.
“When I had that down, he challenged me to speed it up again. One touch. BANG. Goal. He slowed me down to speed me up. It sounds simple, but it was genius, really.”
