Former Liverpool Assistant Manager Says He Is Behind Jurgen Klopp's Success In Extraordinary Outburst

Former Liverpool assistant Zeljko Buvac has insisted he is the man behind Jurgen Klopp's success in a remarkable interview.

Buvac worked alongside the German coach for 17 years before their relationship broke down in April 2018.

He was dubbed 'The Brain' during his time at Klopp's side and many wondered how Liverpool would cope without him.

The club have since won the Champions League and Premier League, but Buvac has admitted he did not congratulate the club on their success.

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"I didn't," the Dynamo Moscow sporting director told Nobel in a now deleted video per Daily Mail. "I was happy for Liverpool, for the fans, for the player. But I didn't."

Buvac then went on to state he became a sporting director after "being the manager for 17 years" working with Klopp.

"I did the job of a manager, except speaking in public and giving interviews," he continued.

"Apart from that, 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.

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"I don't want to be a manager now. If Barcelona calls me then of course I'll think about it but otherwise no.

"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. But I won't tell you which clubs."

The interview has emerged the day after Liverpool's humiliating 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa in one of the club's heaviest domestic defeats.

Ollie Watkins scored a first half hat-trick and John McGinn netted a long range drive to give Villa a 4-1 lead at the break.

Dean Smith's side then continued to dominate in the second half as Ross Barkley's deflected effort and a Jack Grealish double sealed victory.

"It looked like we lost the plot after it went to 1-0," Klopp told BBC Sport.

"Who wants to lose 7-2? Years ago we told ourselves we wanted to create history. That was history but obviously the wrong type.

"We had big chances which we did not use, but when you concede seven I'm not sure you can say it would have been 7-7."

Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Football, Premier League, Jurgen Klopp

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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