Jurgen Klopp wants to use the All Blacks to inspire Liverpool to a sustained period of success.
The All Blacks are rugby union’s most dominant team. With an unrivalled win record, New Zealand became the first team to win the Rugby World Cup back-to-back and have been used as the benchmark for sustainable success in pro sport
Klopp watched a documentary about them early in his managerial career and, after leading Liverpool to the Champions League and Premier League title in successive seasons, he said there is more to come.
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“I was completely impressed by these big fellas and how they spoke about each other. At that time, the All Blacks were by far the best in the world. I think they had a winning percentage of something over 70% and it was really impressive.
“They were all amateurs, maybe they got a little bit of money, I don’t know. They worked as butchers, builders, all that stuff. These pretty impressive guys spoke about their past and what it meant to them to play for this team.
“At Mainz, the last two minutes before the team bus arrived at the stadium we always listened to the haka. When the door opened I don’t know if people thought a bunch of boys would come out of the bus because it was pretty loud and impressive and it gave us a little kick. They were the All Blacks, Mainz’s main colour is red so we made ourselves the All Reds.
“Nobody noticed that because we were a small team but, for us, it was big. That is how it started for that team. The players really liked it. It gave us the chance from a team nobody is interested in to become a team at least we are really interested in. That helped us.”
Liverpool, who won the title with a record seven games to spare, can still beat the record Premier League points tally of 100, held by City, by seven points.
SOURCE: ESPN