Götze reveals: Why he now regrets returning to BVB | OneFootball

Mario Götze is settling old scores with a past decision. The former BVB star now completely regrets his return to Dortmund in 2016 – while at the same time speaking in the highest terms about Jürgen Klopp.

For a long time, Götze had described the move as a wrong decision, but always stressed that he did not regret it. That stance has now changed. In an interview with The Athletic, the midfielder made it clear that he regrets the move back to BVB “100 percent.”

The trigger goes back to the summer of 2016. As Götze’s time at Bayern Munich was coming to an end, he had the choice between several attractive destinations: his former club BVB, two Spanish clubs, Juventus Turin – and above all Liverpool FC, where Klopp was already on the sidelines.

Götze even visited the coach there in person, but in the end decided against the Reds and in favor of a return to Strobelallee.

Götze: “At the time, I didn’t understand...”

Götze explains that what ultimately disappointed him about the return was his own expectations. “I really liked the idea of going to Klopp, but the club was not in such a good situation,” he recalls.

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“They were playing in the Europa League, and I was coming from Bayern Munich, where I had become a world champion, had played in the Champions League every year and had always reached the semifinals – that was my expectation. At the time, I didn’t understand that some things take time,” Götze continued.

That, he says, was his lesson. While Liverpool under Klopp grew stronger year after year and won the league again in 2020 after 30 years, Götze was unable to meet his own expectations at BVB.

Later that same year, he moved on to PSV Eindhoven, and for the past four years he has been under contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Why Götze still speaks so highly of Klopp to this day

Despite the fact that they never ended up working together, Götze continues to speak about the coach with great respect – the same coach he hurt in 2014 with his move to Bayern Munich and who is expected to soon take over as national team coach. “What he understands – and what most coaches perhaps do not understand – is how to deal with people,” says Götze.

And: “Handling players, managing expectations, bringing people together into one unit: he understood that perfectly. He can be very clear about what he wants and demands. That’s why he was so successful.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.