Who will be Jurgen Klopp's 'brain and eye' at Anfield?

Klopp has called Buvac 'the brain' and Krawietz 'the eye'. Here is what can be expected of the new men in the dugout.

Zeljko Buvac

The 54-year-old experienced Bosnian coach has had a close bond with Klopp since they were team-mates together at Mainz more than two decades ago.

Buvac was an attacking midfielder who had spells with Rudar Ljubija and Banja Luka in his homeland before moving to Germany in 1991, He played for Rot-Weiss Erfurt and then spent three years at Mainz before signing for Neukirchen.

He hung up his boots at the age of 36 and was appointed manager of the club who were operating at the time in the fourth tier of German football.

In 2001 Klopp came calling. Klopp had been offered the manager’s job at Mainz after deciding to retire from playing and he wanted Buvac alongside him.

It was the start of a successful double act. Over the next seven years they secured promotion for Mainz into the Bundesliga for the first time and earned European qualification.

In 2007 Mainz were relegated and 12 months later, after failing to get them back up, they walked away.

Borussia Dortmund made their move and in May 2008 Klopp and Buvac inherited a team who had finished 13th under Thomas Doll.

After sixth and fifth placed finishes, Dortmund kicked on and won back to back Bundesliga titles in thrilling fashion.

Buvac was the co-architect of Dortmund’s high-octane style of play where everything was done at speed - they pressed relentlessly to win back possession and counter-attacked with pace and movement.

The 2012 victory over Bayern Munich in the German Cup final sealed the club’s first ever domestic double.

The following season they lit up the Champions League - knocking out Real Madrid en route to the final where Bayern got their revenge with a 2-1 win at Wembley.

Hampered by the sale of Robert Lewandowski to their rivals, last term standards slipped. At one stage Dortmund were flirting with relegation before a spirited revival saw them finish seventh.

Klopp announced back in April that he would be leaving to take a sabbatical and Buvac went with him.

Klopp has previously described Buvac as his “brains” and someone he has a telepathic relationship with. The respect between the two men is clear.

Back in September 2013 Klopp was hit with a touchline ban after being sent off against Napoli in the Champions League for berating the fourth official.

Asked about the manager’s absence at the time, Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin, who had a short loan spell at Liverpool the previous season, said: “Zeljko Buvac is basically Klopp’s twin, and he’ll be on the bench. “Both of them see football in exactly the same way.”

Now the duo are now set to be reunited at Anfield where Kopites will hope they can replicate the glory they brought to the Westfalenstadion.

Peter Krawietz

The 43-year-old German never played professional football but his skills are highly regarded by Klopp who gave him the nickname 'The Eye'.

He worked with Klopp and Buvac at Mainz where he was chief scout and then followed them to Dortmund.

Krawietz is Klopp's video analyst and provides a succession of information for the manager on both his own players and also an opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

Former Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert spent some time with Dortmund's staff last season.

He said: “He was great with me when I was over there and showed me how it worked on the analysis side of it.

“Peter is a big part of his team and he was at Mainz with him. He knows him really well and is someone who he trusts to be very analytical about the game. He’s someone he’ll lean on.”

Source: Liverpool Echo

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