Liverpool vs Huddersfield: David Wagner aims to wreck best pal Jurgen Klopp’s weekend
Pair became huge friends in their time sharing a room on away trips — although it did lead to their one big disagreement
DAVID WAGNER aims to wreck his best pal’s weekend — but it will not be the first time they have gone to war over Players.
Wagner takes his Huddersfield heroes to Anfield tomorrow seeking a second prize scalp on the bounce after stunning Manchester United.
It sees him lock horns with Jurgen Klopp, his team-mate at Mainz over 25 years ago and the man he worked alongside for four seasons at Borussia Dortmund.
The two became huge friends in their time sharing a room on away trips — although it did lead to their one big disagreement.
Liverpool boss Klopp, 50, loved to relax with an Embassy, a Players No 6 or a Benson & Hedges and, as a non-smoker, that caused problems for Wagner.
The Huddersfield chief revealed: “He was pretty quiet, because he had a child, so he liked to sleep, like I did, but unfortunately he was a smoker.
"That was not easy at the beginning, so I convinced him that he was only allowed to smoke in the toilet and not in the room.
“It was more or less the biggest discussion we had and he followed what I said.
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“It was perfect because he more or less had the same rhythm that I had as a person. We were hungry at the same time, we were thirsty at the same time and we went to bed and stood up at the same time.”
The two are such buddies that Wagner was best man at Klopp’s wedding, while the Kop gaffer is godfather to David’s daughter Lynn.
Many thought Wagner would follow his mate to Merseyside when he replaced Brendan Rodgers in 2015.
But by then he had already decided he wanted his next managerial role to be as a No 1 in his own right, which led to last year’s sensational promotion.
Yet this weekend’s showdown will not be the first time the two amigos have gone head to head.
When Klopp was a full-back at Mainz, Wagner was a left winger with Gutersloh who was going through a goal drought.
That all changed with a hat-trick that still brings a grimace to the Liverpool manager’s face — and a smile to his old mucker’s.
Wagner, 46, joked: “I was a striker who wasn’t scoring goals, so of course I remember! But he had done everything right — it was only my quality!”
So did that particular day get a mention when he stood up as best man? He added: “Usually in a speech, you only talk about the nice memories of the man, not the worst ones!
“I have known my wife for more than 25 years and known Jurgen longer, so it is more than a friendship — it’s more like a family.
“Now he is the manager of Liverpool, I’m manager of Huddersfield and we’re playing in a Premier League game at Anfield. It’s a great story.”
