Back-room boy who pulled the strings

Buvac has been crucial to Klopp’s success at every stage of his career, writes Chris Bascombe

When Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool in January it was suggested that it meant the break-up of the ‘Fab Four’. If we take the words of Jurgen Klopp’s back-room team at face value, Anfield is going through another band split with the departure – temporary or otherwise – of coach Zeljko Buvac.

“We are like a music band, each with their own instrument,” was how assistant Peter Krawietz, the other key member of the coaching trio, described their relationships to The Daily Telegraph two years ago.

“Jurgen is the band leader and others are behind him playing the bass guitar or drum. Many years ago a journalist in Germany said I was ‘the eye’ and Zeljko was ‘the brain’ and people repeat it. We could only laugh at this, see it as an invention and say, ‘So what is Jurgen?’.

“We are all part of the team here but it is different in Germany to England. Here, as a manager, there are so many more tasks around the club so me and Zeljko try to help as much as we can.”

The idea of Buvac as the “brain” of Klopp’s operation has stuck as a memorable sound bite even if it has been exaggerated for dramatic effect. The Bosnian earned his reputation as a shrewd tactician after Klopp described him as a “master of all kinds of training”.

The pair became friends when team-mates at Mainz in the early 1990s and made a pact that whoever became a manager first would appoint the other as their assistant. When the time came for Klopp to take over at Mainz – implementing the style and

methods of his mentor Wolfgang Frank, the former Mainz coach – he kept his promise and Buvac joined his staff. The coaching unit followed Klopp to Dortmund and when Anfield called on the German, his first request was to hire Buvac and Krawietz.

Although in recent years it has been suggested the relationship between Klopp and Buvac was more professional than personal, the presence of a figure with a forthright opinion, who was prepared to stand his ground without fear of losing his job, has been healthy, particularly in an industry where high-profile managers surround themselves with acolytes and yes men.

Evidently, the dynamic of the relationship between Klopp and