Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Jurgen Klopp denies he is seeking Borussia Dortmund exit

Jurgen Klopp has clarified his statement that he will miss Borussia Dortmund fans when he is no longer in charge of the club, saying he is not thinking about leaving the crisis-hit side.

While finishing runners-up in both the Bundesliga and German Cup in the 2013-14 season, the new campaign has seen Dortmund drop into the relegation zone in recent weeks.

During the decline, BVB coach Klopp dropped several hints that he could soon be on his way out despite his contract running until 2018.

His most recent statement following the 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg on Wednesday left fans wondering whether the Dortmund boss was planning his exit, with Klopp saying on Wednesday: "This was the last home game [before the winter break]. And there might come a time in my life when I am no longer the coach of this team. But what I know already is that I will miss them."

However, when questioned about the comments during the pregame news conference for BVB's final match of the year at bottom-of-the-league Werder Bremen, Klopp was quick to clarify his statement.

"I was not dropping hints. But one day I will certainly not be the BVB coach anymore and then I will hopefully still be in good health," Klopp said, and made it clear that his departure from the Westfalenstadion is not planned for the immediate future.

However, the broadsheet FAZ commented that "Klopp's system is under close scrutiny," and that it appears to be affecting the coach. "Is his managerial style the right one, do the players pay back enough?" the paper asked and once again hinted at possible rifts in the squad, citing the example of captain Mats Hummels, who did not join in the celebrations following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's opening goal against Wolfsburg.

Still, the case of Marco Reus overshadowed everything else in Dortmund on Thursday. The Germany international was fined 540,000 euros for driving without a licenseĀ and, according to several reports in Germany, used a forged Dutch driving license instead.

While the Dortmund winger was backed by the club, he has come under fire from most of the German media. A comment in FAZ called for the DFB to ban him from the national team for a while since Reus failed to live up to what is expected of a role model.

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