Jurgen Klopp does not intend quitting as Borussia Dortmund coach after admitting his team were made to look like “total idiots” at the Weserstadion following Saturday’s 2-1 loss to fellow strugglers Werder Bremen.
Last season’s runners-up Dortmund are in the automatic relegation places over the winter break for the first time in the Westfalendians’ top-flight history.
“It was just a reflection of our whole season so far,” Klopp said. “We had a very poor first half. It follows suit that we are standing here like total idiots.”
Mats Hummels’ second-half header was insufficient to cancel out Davie Selke and Fin Bartels first-half strikes as Bremen moved off the bottom to replace Klopp’s men in the relegation play-off spot.
Hummels said: “We’re trying to get our heads round this. In the last few weeks we’ve been okay and at home we seem to have turned a corner, but away from home, it’s been anything but. It’s quite unbelievable how rubbish we’ve been away from home.”
The 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga champions have endured a first-half of contrasting fortunes in the Uefa Champions League, where they have reached the last 16, and in the German league, having managed 15 points in 17 games – just two more than they picked up in six of their matches in Europe.
Moreover, Klopp would rather go into the winter period reflecting on how they lost ten out of their opening 17 league matches than walk away.
“I am totally responsible and I am not just going to throw in the towel and follow everything from a distance. I can promise that we’re going to put right what we’ve done wrong and we’re going to be angry hunters. It’s going to be far harder to beat us in the second half of the season,” he told ZDF television.
Australian goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak said: “It’s difficult to say what’s going wrong, I for one can’t really explain it. The early goal obviously changed things and played into Bremen’s hands. It’s clear that we’re not in a good situation and need to turn things around urgently in the Rückrunde (German League).”
