Liverpool have hired Germany's number one in Schlumberger - Klopp
Schlumberger worked with Klopp for four years at Dortmund
Written by Training Ground Guru — January 8, 2021
JURGEN KLOPP says Liverpool have hired the “number one in Germany” in new Head of Recovery and Performance Andreas Schlumberger.
The 54-year-old joined the club at the end of December from Schalke to lead on performance, medical and rehab. Klopp knows him well from their four years working together at Borussia Dortmund, where Schlumberger was fitness coach from 2011 to 2015.
They also studied at the same university, the Goethe Institute in Frankfurt, where Klopp gained a diploma in sports science and Schlumberger did his PhD.
Speaking at his weekly virtual press conference, Klopp said: “If you would ask people in Germany, in this area – rehab, performance, recovery – he’s number one in Germany.
“I’ve known him for years, we studied at the same university, so I’ve followed his way all the way through. Then we worked together for a few years at Dortmund, he went to Bayern, worked for Gladbach, worked for Schalke, worked before that for Nurnberg and for the German FA.
“The CV is just incredible, absolutely incredible.”
Klopp said the appointment was part of a plan to “bring the best people together” in the club’s medical and performance departments.
“Twenty years ago it (medical and performance) was a catastrophe compared to today,” the German said. “In the moment we are in a really good place, but it’s not finished. The development is not finished, the knowledge is not finished.
“My understanding is how can you develop in these areas is you bring the best people together, discuss about different cases and make a common decision and go from there.
“That’s why I thought it makes absolute sense to bring him in. It’s nothing to do really with me personally. Yes, we know each other, but it’s nothing to do with that.
“It’s for me a chance for the club, to bring in an outstanding person with an incredible knowledge about some very important things in football, and that’s why he’s here.”
As TGG reported last September, Liverpool’s current Rehabilitation and Performance Manager, Philipp Jacobsen, is seeing out the final season of his contract in Germany and will leave the club next summer.
Schlumberger joins from Schalke, where he had worked as Head of Fitness and Injury Prevention for the last year, and has also worked for Bayern Munich and the German Football Association.
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