Liverpool News: Jurgen Klopp’s Ex-Assistant Claims He ‘Did The Coaching’ For 17 Years

In almost two decades of coaching, Jurgen Klopp has had all-around support from his staff, including former assistant manager Zeljko Buvac. But Buvac has now claimed that he was the one who did most of the work for the veteran manager.

"I did the coaching job, with the exception of the interviews," Buvac said in an interview with Russian journalist Nobel Arustamyan for the latter's YouTube channel. The video has since been taken down from the platform.

Klopp and Buvac achieved success as a pair when they worked together during their days at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund. Being the assistant for Klopp, he was dubbed as the "The Brain" of their coaching staff, Goal reported.

"It felt like I’ve been the manager for all those 17 years. I had all the functions and tried to influence my team as much as I could to help them succeed, but I didn’t need that kind of attention," Buvac added.

Buvac parted ways with Klopp in 2018 and is currently working as the sporting director of Russian club FC Dynamo Moscow.

"At the moment I don't want to be a coach. When Barcelona calls me I will think about it, otherwise not," Buvac said.

"You say I’m here just to stay occupied and wait for a better chance, but if you knew what kind of offers I had rejected during the pause in my career, you wouldn’t have said that. I won’t tell you which clubs," he added.

When asked if he had congratulated Klopp for leading Liverpool to the club's first Premier League title in over 30 years, Buvac shared that he hasn’t reached out to his former partner.

"I didn't. I was happy for Liverpool, the fans and the players," Buvac shared.

Currently, Liverpool is at fifth place in Premier League standings with a record of three wins and a single defeat. The club's latest match ended in an embarrassing 7-2 loss against Aston Villa. Klopp admitted that they had committed several crucial errors during the game.

The next game for Klopp and the rest of Liverpool is on Saturday, Oct. 17, against Everton as they seek to bounce back from the overwhelming defeat.