He was more than a father figure to me - Robert Lewandowski on his relationship with Jurgen Klopp
Robert Lewandowski is arguably one of the best and most consistent footballers in world football at the moment.
Last year, Robert Lewandowski helped Bayern Munich win five trophies in the calendar year and also won a plethora of individual accolades, including the best footballer in the world.
The 32-year-old recently spoke about his relationship with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, his former manager at Borussia Dortmund.
Jurgen Klopp taught me so much: Robert Lewandowski
According to Robert Lewandowski, Jurgen Klopp was not just a father figure, but was also the 'bad' teacher who brought out the best in him.
Robert Lewandowski, who now plays for Bayern Munich, joined Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in June 2010 at the age of 22, where he spent four seasons under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp.
From his second year under Jurgen Klopp (2011-12), Robert Lewandowski has never scored fewer than 25 goals in a season. Naturally, Klopp had a profound impact on the young Polish striker, who later moved to Bayern Munich in 2014.
Writing for The Players' Tribune, Robert Lewandowski recently recapped his entire life thus far after winning The Best FIFA Men's Player award and the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award following a dazzling 2019-20 season.
The piece shed significant light on his relationship with his former manager Jurgen Klopp.
"Jürgen was not only a father figure to me. As a coach, he was like the 'bad' teacher. And I mean that in the best sense of the word", wrote Robert Lewandowski.
The Polish striker went on the elaborate on the same:
"Let me explain. Think back to you when you were in school. Which teacher do you remember the most? Not the one who made life easy for you and never expected anything from you. No, no, no. You remember the bad teacher, the one who was strict with you. The one who put pressure on you and did everything to get the best out of you. That’s the teacher who made you better, right? And Jurgen was like that."
The Poland international explained that Jurgen Klopp made him a better player, saying in this regard:
"He was not content to let you be a B student, you know? Jurgen wanted A+ students. He didn’t want it for him. He wanted it for you."
Lewandowski wrote about how he learnt a lot from Klopp as a youngster, which eventually set him on the path to greatness. That included varying the player's speed, which Lewandowski says was completely against his nature but soon allowed him to score more goals.