Klopp on salt tablet training: "We are dehydrated"

Jürgen Klopp reluctantly recalls some of his training sessions as an active footballer. "You'd go to prison today for the athletics training we did back then. When I was young, we were given salt tablets and not allowed to drink - it was 40 degrees outside, we were dehydrated, we were supposed to power ourselves out," said the long-time star coach at a panel discussion on youth soccer in the Leipzig Arena.

Klopp, who comes from Württemberg, initially spent his youth at SV Glatten in the northern Black Forest, where he stood out as a goal scorer and was nicknamed "Der Lange". Another youth station was TuS Ergenzingen, 30 kilometers away. His coach at the time, Walter Baur, said of captain Klopp: "He wanted to become a professional footballer."

Klopp's other stations: Pforzheim and three Frankfurt clubs

Following stints at 1. FC Pforzheim, Eintracht Frankfurt (amateurs), Frankfurt club Viktoria Sindlingen and Rot-Weiss Frankfurt, Klopp ended up at FSV Mainz 05 in 1990. He later took over as coach of the Rheinhessen club and led them into the Bundesliga for the first time in 2004. Two championships and a DFB Cup triumph followed with Borussia Dortmund.

Following his voluntary departure after nine years at Liverpool FC, the 57-year-old has been responsible for the beverage group's soccer division as Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull since January 1. His contract runs until 2029, and Klopp recently ruled out a return to coaching.