In his 4 years at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp has taken the Reds from 8th place underachievers to Champions League winners. Lets take a look back.
October 8th, 2015 – the date when Jurgen Klopp took over at Liverpool, following an up-and-down tenure for Brendan Rodgers at Anfield, which ended in a sacking. Klopp came in with a high reputation, having won the Bundesliga twice in 2011 and 2012, and finishing runner-up in the Champions League final with a likeable and modest Borussia Dortmund side, where he showed off his tactical prowess and near-revolutionary wisdom.
In fact, the high-intensity all-action style of football that many of the top football clubs in Europe play these days could very well be traced back to Jurgen Klopp’s implementation of the “gegenpress” system at Dortmund, and now Liverpool.
When surveying and assessing his tenure at Anfield, it seems like 4 years simply shouldn’t have been enough time to achieve what Jurgen Klopp has indeed achieved at Liverpool. Sure, there’s only 1 real trophy in their cabinet from these past 4 years, that being the biggest one of them all, but it was the journey that culminated with that triumph in Madrid just 6 months ago, that has a miraculous sort of vibe to it.
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The year Jurgen Klopp took over Liverpool, they finished 8th place – behind the likes of Southampton and West Ham, who would be shaking in their boots at the thought of coming up against Liverpool these days. Their journey to the top has been a carefully-planned one, based mostly on intelligent recruitment, and molded together with a vibrant team spirit which is no doubt a result of the infectiously cheerful personality that Jurgen Klopp possesses.
Of course, the journey did have multiple setbacks, with the 2016 Europa League final loss being one that stands out, along with the sale of Philippe Coutinho, which in hindsight was the perfect example for the phrase “one step back, two steps forward”.
But Liverpool didn’t stop this from derailing their project, which is something that many clubs in world football, who tend to be trigger-happy with their long-term plans or managers, preferring to blow things up and start over again rather than stay patient, can learn from. Liverpool’s belief in Jurgen Klopp is what got them to where they are today.
Now, the Reds look on pace to add to their trophy cabinet, soaring atop the Premier League and seemingly refusing to look back. The pain of finishing 1 point behind 1st place last season was washed down with a Champions League triumph, but while that trophy is the biggest of all, the fact that the Premier League title has continuously evaded them is still something that dances around the heads of all those that follow the Reds – but perhaps not for much longer.