Today, 9th October, sees the 5th anniversary of Jurgen Klopp’s very first full day as Liverpool manager. Yes, he was appointed on the 8th October 2015, but the 9th was when he really got under way. And didn’t he get under way. To say the last 5 years has been a bit of a rollercoaster could be something of an understatement. You could say it’s been Jurgen Klopp and five years of fun.
Yes, there have been some down moments. Quickly moving on from the 7-2 humiliation last Sunday for instance.
But generally, it has been a case of Jurgen Klopp and five years of fun. He has, without a doubt, been like a breath of fresh air. Not only for us lucky Liverpool fans, but for the Premier League as a whole. Let’s have a closer look at the incredible Jurgen Klopp.
Jurgen Klopp And Five Years Of Fun
First, let’s take a look at some Jurgen stats and facts.
Birthdate: 16 June 1967.
Birthplace: Stuttgart, Germany.
Other clubs as manager: Mainz 05 (2001-08), Borussia Dortmund (2008-15).
Arrived from: Free agent (after leaving Dortmund a few months before).
Appointed by Liverpool FC: 8 October 2015.
LFC league games as manager: 186 (at the time of writing).
Total LFC games as manager: 272 (at the time of writing).
Honours: Champions League 2019, 2019 The Best FIFA Football Awards Coach of the Year,
European Super Cup 2019, FIFA Club World Cup 2019, 2020 League Managers Association’s Manager of the Year,
Premier League Manager of the season 2019/20, Premier League Champions 2019/20.
First game in charge: 17.10.2015, away to Tottenham Hotspur which ended in a 0-0 draw.
Contract Expiry: 2024 (signed 13.12.2019).
Jurgen Klopp – A Bit Of Background
Like with so many other top-class managers, as a player Jürgen Klopp was not what you would call a superstar player. I think he would be the first to confirm that. Anyone who refers to himself as the “Normal One” must have self modesty and humility in spades.
As a player he spent his entire career at FSV Mainz. After his playing career ended he took up the reins as manager in 2001. This was the start of a period that resulted in him becoming their longest-serving manager. His reign as manager was noteworthy mainly for achieving the club’s promotion out of the Bundesliga 2 into the top flight for the first time in their history.
During their three-year excursion as a Bundesliga team, Mainz also played a preseason friendly with his future employers Liverpool in August 2006. They hammered Rafa Benitez’s side 5-0! Not a sign of things to come for the season ahead though as at the end of that season, Mainz were relegated when finishing in 16th place. Klopp stayed on but resigned at the end of the following season as Mainz finished fourth, just outside the promotion places.
Klopp Becomes Borussia Dortmund Manager
He was not to be out of work for long though. In May 2008, he was appointed by Borussia Dortmund, who had finished in an unspectacular 13th place in the 2007/08 season. Klopp’s appointment immediately came up trumps. They won the DFL Supercup and he helped raise the squad from thirteenth to sixth in his first season.
More progression the following season. In 2008/09, Dortmund finished fifth. A steady progressive upward curve was in motion. By the time we got to the 2010/11 season though, Klopp’s Dortmund really made an impact. An impact that also made a European household name of their charismatic and enigmatic manager.
BVB won their first league title in nine years. They were crowned champions with two games to spare and by an eventual margin of seven points. It didn’t stop there though. As the next season Dortmund did it again. But, on this occasion they did it with a German-record-breaking tally of 81 points. During this title winning run, BVB strung together an incredible 28-match unbeaten run. They also beat Bayern Munich 5-2 in the DFB Pokal Cup to earn the first domestic double in their history.
Champions League Final
More success followed as in the 2012/13 season, Borussia escaped a Champions League ‘Group Of Death’ to find themselves in the final at Wembley Stadium against old foes, Bayern Munich. It wasn’t to be though as a last-minute Arjen Robben goal denied Dortmund a famous victory.
In his now familiar bubbly style, this defeat didn’t deflate Klopp too much. He was already looking on the bright side straight after the game. He said, “the only thing I can say is that it was great. London is the town of the Olympic Games. The weather was good, everything is OK. Only the result is sh*t.”
Dortmund And Their Fall From Grace
From there though things started to go south a bit for Klopp and his Dortmund side. In an injury-ravaged 2013/14 season, Dortmund went out of the Champions League at the quarter-finals and they fell to second in the league.
Their form dipped alarmingly in 2014/15. On occasions they found themselves rooted in the relegation places. They did recover however and ultimately finishing seventh. They also made the Cup Final again, but they lost. Klopp’s time at BVB was coming to an end. He announced in April 2015 that he would not be staying at the club and that he was looking to take a year’s sabbatical. However, when Brendan Rodgers was sacked on 4 October that year, Liverpool moved quickly and contacted him about the now vacant Liverpool hot seat. Four days later, on 8th October 2015, he was appointed Liverpool manager. in a typical “normal” manner, he announced his arrival in the city by having a pint at the Old Blind School bar on Hardman Street. Without any issue whatsoever, he also posed for pictures with passers-by.
Jurgen Klopp – Let The Fun Begin
When he was appointed, I was working in School Lane at the time. In his early days, one of the ladies in our office on a Monday morning asked a fairly normal question of, “did you have a good weekend?” “Yes thanks, did you?”
The young lady said she did and went on to state, “you’re a football fan aren’t you.” To which I replied an emphatic affirmative. She then continued to relate her experience from the Friday night. She was in a restaurant when she said that all of a sudden there was a lot of commotion over by a nearby table. Plenty of people had gathered around this table.
She asked a waiter what the commotion was. The waiter confirmed that it was Jurgen Klopp and his wife sat at the table. Also, she said that he stood up and was laughing and joking with all those around him. Signing autographs and posing for photos wasn’t a problem. Yes, Jurgen Klopp had arrived and he was leaving his mark on all those around him.
Jurgen Klopp – The Normal One
At his opening press conference, Klopp described himself as “The Normal One.” He also went on to say that Liverpool is a “Special Club.”
He also stated that everyone connected to the club needed to go from doubters to believers. This label has stayed with Liverpool fans ever since. His impact was instant and he led Liverpool to both the League and Europa League finals. Sadly though both ended in defeat.
Even so, we had fun along the way to these finals. For instance, the run to the Europa League final against Sevilla in Basle included a round of 16 victory over Manchester United. That would always go down well wouldn’t it. More drama to follow though. In the quarter-finals, the Reds were drawn against his old club Borussia Dortmund. After a 1-1 draw in Germany, Liverpool looked to be heading out when Dortmund led 2-0 and 3-1 at Anfield, but a tremendous comeback was completed with Dejan Lovren’s injury-time winner. Yet another special Anfield European night. And one for Klopp himself to treasure.
League Form Not So Good Though
League form in 2015/16 was disappointing though. We eventually finished eighth. As we progressed in Europe, Klopp often rested his best players ahead of domestic games. This may well have contributed significantly to the 8th place finish. However, the club owners FSG had seen enough to hand him a contract extension. This would tie him to the club until 2022.
In his first full season though in the following year – 2016-17 – the league was clearly priority. Klopp didn’t disappoint. He led the club to a first Champions League qualification since 2014.
The 2017/18 season though was when Klopp clearly made people sit up and take notice that Liverpool were back on the big stage. More progression in the league ensued. We eventually finished fourth, securing Champions League qualification on the last day as Manchester City ran away with the title with a record-breaking points tally.
Let’s Talk About 6
However number 6 was in sight. Klopp led the Reds on a glorious run to the Champions League final. Along the way we hammered seven past both Maribor and Spartak Moscow in the group stage. In the first knockout round we also thrashed Porto 5-0 in Portugal in the first leg of the round of 16.
A big quarter-final followed as we were drawn against Manchester City. They were also brushed aside 3-0 at Anfield in the first leg. In the second leg, we trailed 1-0 at half-time but came from behind to win 2-1 and set up a semi-final tie with Roma. Another goal fest ensued as we cruised to a 5-0 lead at Anfield before being pegged back by two late goals.
Over in Rome goals flowed again as we lost 4-2. It looks very close but maybe not so much so when you consider Roma’s fourth goal came in injury time. All in all we fully deserved our place in the final. Sadly though, in Kiev we fell 3-1 to Real Madrid. As we all know, two of the goals were down to horrendous goalkeeping errors by Loris Karius.
Jurgen Klopp – An Eye For A Player
When we first appointed Klopp, a very good friend who works in football at a very good level and who is himself a FIFA coach, told me two things, The first one was that we should not be surprised if Klopp started to sign players that we either hadn’t heard of, or ones that seemed to be a big surprise. The other thing my friend told me was that Klopp would win us the league. He was right on both counts.
One such example of a ‘surprising’ signing is Andy Robertson. Come on, hands up. Who was actually underwhelmed when we signed Robbo? Plenty I’m sure and that is no disrespect to Robbo. But such is Klopp’s ability to seek out good players and nurture them into great ones. The signing of Robertson is a classic example. A fee of £8m going to Hull with midfielder, Kevin Stewart, signing for Hull for the same fee, made Robbo as good as a free.
At first he wasn’t used a lot in the first three months or so. If I remember rightly, Robbo’s home debut was against Crystal Palace. To many of us on The Kop he was man of the match. Klopp had worked his magic. And today, is anyone underwhelmed by this signing any more? Not at all. What a signing Robbo has turned out to be.
Add other signings like Sadio Mane, Mo Salah, Alisson Becker and Virgil Van Dijk to name a few and we could now see a really good squad taking shape. Good enough to win us our first title for 30 years? We all know the answer to that now don’t we.
Klopp And The Anfield Effect
Under Klopp, Anfield has once more become a cauldron and a place where visiting teams fear. The atmosphere for European games is unique and quite terrifying for opponents. Also, in the Premier League, Liverpool have remained unbeaten at home in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.
It seems that all our players have the utmost respect and trust in Klopp. He has to have an unbelievable knack of having all the players seemingly run through brick walls for him. Even if they are not regular starters. Players such as Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri do not play regularly for one reason or another. But they never complain and whenever asked about it, their response is always the same. It is about the group and the team first and foremost. The aim is to do things together and not as individuals. Melwood is a place of work but it is also a place of fun.
We’ve already had Jurgen Klopp and five years of fun. Let’s hope the rest of the journey is just as much fun. And, just as successful. Thanks for the five years so far Jurgen. From one doubter turned believer, it’s been a blast.
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