The Scousers’ never say die attitude has once again propelled them to greatness! Here’s how Jurgen Klopp quietly built a force to be reckoned with.
Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
In 2015 the German tactician took over a dejected side that had missed out on winning the league title by a mere two points a couple of months earlier. What compounded the disappointment is that they were in the driving seat until the last three games when they choked against Crystal Palace and Chelsea, prompting their talisman Luis Suarez join Barcelona to win the league title and the UEFA Champions League.
The man that preceded him in Brendan Rogers cited the lack of tools as his reason for failure to do the job of taking the team to the next level. These are the very same tools Klopp used to instil a winning mentality and set the tone for things to come. I can’t forget the dramatic comeback 5-4 victory over Norwich City and the 4-1 drubbing of Manchester City in the early stages of his career.
How can I forget about the pulsating 5-4 triumph over his former side Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals! Klopp would go on to lose to Sevilla in the decider but he never gave up! That was his second final defeat as a Liverpool manager having come second best to Man City in the League Cup (Carabao Cup) final three months prior.
The mentor was quickly earning the reputation of being a nearly man and the club perennial runners up! The time to strengthen came and he brought in the likes of Sadio Mane. When he realised that the attacker needed a bit of help, he acquired the services of Mohamed Salah who would win the Golden Boot and the Footballer of the Season awards in his very first season.
The team started scoring goals for fun but the defence was still atrocious! The charismatic manager wasted no time in breaking the world record fee for a defender, bringing Virgil Van Dijk on board and the team started to look like it was ready to compete! Liverpool reached their third final under Klopp where they’d go head to head with Real Madrid. It became a night to forget for the Scousers as goalkeeping culpabilities saw them concede two silly goals to lose 3-1 and only collect silver medals, again!
What’s impressive about Klopp is that whatever problem he has he addresses it! The goalkeeper was shipped out and in came Brazil’s number one, Alisson Becker. Dejan Lovren who was also shaky at the back was dropped in favour of Joel Matip or Joe Gomez. The following season, they did enough to win the league title as they amassed an impressive 97 points but Man City collected 98 to pip them to the coveted prize which had eluded them for 29 years.
In the same season they were giving the UEFA Champions League another good go and everyone thought they were dead and buried when they lost 3-0 to Barcelona but guess what! They thrashed the Catalans 4-0 at Anfield to set up a final clash with Tottenham Hotspur which they won 2-0, giving Klopp his first taste of cup victory in close to four years. That was Liverpool’s first trophy since the 2012 League Cup triumph.
The relentless battle in the continental trophy emboldened them to bury the domestic league ghost of 30 years! With a complete team, they were able to do just that. They once again became runners up turned victors as they comfortably claimed the league title with a host of games to spare, ending a 30-year drought.
We can’t forget about how critics mocked the manager for his hugs and how “they wouldn’t do anything for a team that hasn’t won anything in recent years” but I could feel that his energy was rubbing off on his players. For Klopp and Liverpool, this has been a story of despair to delight, disappointment to fulfilment, heartache to elation. This has been a story of losing three cup finals to winning the main one, the story of upgrading from second best to the best! This is one team that is built on resilience and what they’ve done is remarkable.
Written by Eggs Benedict Ngwenya for Hollywoodbets
