How Jurgen Klopp created a new role at Melwood – with every player catered for

Liverpool’s head of nutrition Mona Nemmer has revealed how Jurgen Klopp created a new role at the club for her, and detailed her job in consulting with every player.

Nemmer joined the Reds from Bayern Munich in 2016, alongside head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer, as Klopp overhauled his backroom staff at Melwood.

Shaping his team to suit his requirements on the pitch, the manager has focused on minor details and marginal gains to transform Liverpool from challengers to champions—but Nemmer’s role is certainly not ‘minor’.

As head of nutrition, she assesses every player’s specific dietary needs and, alongside the club’s nutritional staff, caters for all manner of different factors.

“We have basic things that are mainly the same for every player,” Nemmer told LFCTV.

“What we always have to keep in mind is the playing position, their height is different, the body composition is different, different ethnicities.

“We try to be really individual, also around playing minutes, how many metres they run per game.

“[We have to think] what do we need to do prepare them for the next game? Are we flying to different time zones? Will the climate change, for example?

“So there are a lot of different factors we try to consider, and try to individualise for the players.”

Incredibly, this is not a position that was not filled by a dedicated staff member prior to Nemmer’s appointment, and the German detailed how the call came from Klopp, and how she has settled at an “amazing” club.

“Our lovely manager Jurgen Klopp gave me a call and it was a wonderful conversation, because a full-time nutrition role has never been in place at LFC before,” she revealed.

“There were [only] a lot of consultancy positions, so it was a kind of new start as well.

“And the combination of wonderful city vibes, and the opportunity to create something at Liverpool Football Club, was just amazing.

“Working so close with so many lovely people, you can feel the passion, you can feel the dedication.

“That’s just incredible and I think we all know that if you put love and passion into something you, in our context, can smell it or taste it.”

The results of Nemmer’s work are evident on the pitch, with Liverpool improving significantly over the years since 2016, but she credits the positivity fostered by Klopp—and particularly in this “rough time.”

“That’s a very, very special thing from the Liverpool squad, and also what the manager has given them, they stay positive, stay happy in a way,” she continued.

“You can see it on the yoga sessions or fitness sessions they do together, there’s a lot of banter, there is a lot of happiness, and I think you can feel we are all really connected.

“That’s a wonderful thing, to see that a team which is going through a hard and rough time in a way still sees it very positively.”