Sports
What Happened to Zeljko Buvac
During a manager’s long-term role at the helm of clubs as prestigious as Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea, back-room staff come and go. As do managers, in all honesty. Nevertheless, the make-up of a hardened coaching team is often central to success, with the head coach taking the majority of the plaudits from fans, pundits and other managers alike.
Take Sir Alex Ferguson as a prime example. Of course, the stubborn Scotsman had a core of tried and trusted men to work alongside him but, of course, there was some chopping and changing that went on behind the scenes during his 27-year tenure at Old Trafford. Jurgen Klopp is much like Ferguson. Having built a prestigious portfolio from the depths of German football at Frankfurt, he ensured to have the best in class by his side in order to win a plethora of honours: one Champions League, two Bundesliga titles, a Premier League and many others.
His right-hand man for a lot of that was Zeljko Buvac. An Omarska-born footballer, who enjoyed a 13-year career between 1986 and 1999, was taken under Klopp’s wing as a means of developing his experience. Buvac had been beside Klopp for the best part of his managerial career – not only on Merseyside, but at German club duo Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, too. The pair were often inseparable.
In the blink of an eye, however, Buvac’s time at Anfield was over. On the eve of their all-important 2018 Champions League clash against Serie A outfit AS Roma, the fun-filled relationship between Klopp and his seemingly eternal right-hand man, Buvac, was over. There was little to no media coverage of his unforeseen departure, despite it being reported as a temporary leave.
But little information emerged about what happened, especially as Pepjin Linders came in as his nearly immediate replacement. Roberto Firmino, formerly of Liverpool, provided fans with a little more detail in the recent release of his book as he relived the tale of Buvac’s departure.
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Roberto Firmino Said Buvac’s Exit Was ‘Strange’
While the exit of Buvac still remains somewhat of a mystery to fans associated with the Anfield-based club, Firmino has come to the fore and has revealed in his book – named Sir Senor: My Liverpool Years – that he and the rest of the Reds roster were left dumbfounded in the wake of the news thanks to the details – or lack thereof – provided.
The Brazilian, who played 362 times in a Liverpool strip, explained the complexity of Klopp’s then tight-knit group of coaching staff. Klopp was the epicentre of the club, Peter Krawietz was the eyes of the side and Buvac was the mastermind behind it all, with him being actively involved in all aspects of training, whether it was organising or leading sessions.
“The boss considered himself the heart of the coaching staff, Pete was the eye and Zeljko was the brain. Klopp’s right-hand man, Zeljko was the one who actively participated in training, organising everything and leading sessions.”
Calling his exit ‘a bit strange’ for the entire Liverpool squad, the forward explained that no one was in the loop of what had occurred – and to this day, no one – sadly – has heard a peep from him. Firmino claimed that rumours circulated in the wake of the news and the most notable one was that they had endured a clash over a transfer, though he insisted that he never asked Klopp any further questions.
“His departure in 2018 was a bit strange for all of us; nobody understood what happened. To this day, we don’t know and we haven’t heard from Zeljko. The rumours at the time were that they had clashed over some signing. Honestly, I never asked the boss about it.”
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Buvac’s Career Post-Liverpool
So, what is Buvac up to nowadays? When he suddenly upped and left Anfield – for whatever reason – there was no real evidence as to what may be in the works. Only a handful of people had a concrete understanding of what his role consisted of during his two-and-a-half stint in the Premier League, but that did not stop his name becoming a treasured part of the Liverpool set-up in the embryonic years of the Klopp era.
After being left out in the cold by the German tactician and the Liverpool higher-ups, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international had to turn his hand to something else. Rubbing shoulders with Klopp was all he knew in the weird and wonderful world of football management, and now he had to make steps without the lovable boss by his side.
The cloud of mystery surrounding Buvac’s departure had not been spoken of for a while, thanks to his absence from the football echo chamber – and that was going strong until February 1, 2020.
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Zeljko Buvac – Career as Jurgen Klopp’s assistant manager |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Club |
Appointed |
In charge until |
Matches |
|
Liverpool |
08/10/15 |
30/04/18 |
151 |
|
Borussia Dortmund |
01/07/08 |
30/06/15 |
318 |
|
Mainz |
01/07/01 |
30/06/08 |
258 |
|
All statistics per Transfermarkt |
|||
It was at that point that Buvac made the well-informed decision to return to football after being named the new sporting director of Russian side Dynamo Moscow – a move that was perhaps facilitated by Andriy Voronin, a former Liverpool asset, who was their assistant coach at the time. In March 2024, Buvac signed a new contract at the club, which extended his stay until June 2026.
When announcing Buvac’s appointment, the Russian outfit couldn’t help but – perhaps subtlety – make a dig at Klopp by listing off all of the achievements that he had been a key part of, both domestically and on the European stage by saying: “Two-time German champion and Champions League finalist with Borussia Dortmund, Champions League and European League finalist with Liverpool, Zeljko Buvac – new sports director of Dynamo Moscow! Welcome!”
Buvac and Klopp Break Silence
Not usually one to be viewed in the public eye, Buvac undertook a rare interview with Nobel after his first six months in Russia – and, of course, questions over his split from Klopp arose. The former Reds assistant boss admitted his delight for Klopp and Co. regarding their Premier League triumph, but admitted that he never sent any formal congratulations to those at the club.
“I didn’t. I was happy for Liverpool, for the fans, for the players. But I didn’t.”
Then asked about the split, the studio lights reportedly began to flicker on and off – and Buvac’s reply was simply brilliant. Likening his relationship with Klopp to the present lighting situation, Buvac remained coy before suggesting that, sometimes, things run their course and that, perhaps unfortunately, all good things eventually come to a natural end.
“It’s a sign that this isn’t a good question! Everyone asks how and why, but people live together for 30 years and then they break up. It happens.”
In true Klopp fashion, he finally broke his silence on the departure of Buvac back in March 2022 on an episode of BT Sport’s ‘The Boot Room Boys’ but was quick to praise his replacement, Lijnders, and Vitor Matos for their impact on the club.
“You have to find a way to get all the knowledge you can over the years. I worked together for a long time with Zeljko Buvac, who was a more experienced coach than I was when we started because he was older and worked already a little bit. We worked very close for a long time together and then it didn’t work out anymore and we brought in Lijnders and Vitor (Matos) now. They are like energisers, they are the next generation.”
What actually happened between Klopp and Buvac, two of Liverpool’s powerhouses, may never be unearthed thanks to the confidentiality and sensitive nature of such a topic. One thing is for certain, though, and that is that the German boss was more than pleased with his replacement. That said, Lijnders now works for rivals Manchester City!
