Melissa Reddy - Believe Us

Klopp’s task extended beyond an on-pitch regeneration; he would need to oversee advancement off it too. While FSG were in no doubt he was the perfect fit to achieve that, the length of the deal — eschewing the usual five-year term — was rooted in realism rather than romanticism. Klopp had never lived outside of Germany, let alone managed in a different country or at a club as demanding and unforgiving as Liverpool. He was conscious of Ulla needing to settle and her happiness on Merseyside. It was a big adjustment on an individual level for both of them but also for their marriage.

The official announcement of Klopp’s signing was made by Liverpool at 9 pm, but by then the new manager was at an introductory dinner with Melwood staff. The expectation was that it was his chance to lay down the law and spell out his requirements for how things would work at the training ground going forward. Instead, it was the complete opposite.

‘The gaffer asked us to explain how things are, what we do, what he needed to learn,’ goalkeeper coach John Achterberg, who has been at the club since 2009, remembers. ‘He wanted to know more about us and how our departments worked and he listened to us. He asked us about the league, about rules, training schedules, how matchdays went. It was a good talk that showed us immediately that the gaffer was a team player. He didn’t come in with the attitude that he knew everything. He told us the club could only achieve our ambitions if we did it all together and with the highest standards.’

Later that evening, Klopp toasted his new life with Ulla, their sons Marc and Dennis and his long-term assistant Peter Krawietz at The Old Blind School bar and restaurant. As the pints flowed, so too did the pictures and requests for autographs. His disguise of a cap and black hoodie was certainly not enough to mask the identity of the most popular man in Liverpool.

If the full scale of excitement around his appointment didn’t dawn on Klopp yet, it would the next morning at his unveiling. Press from around the globe packed into the Reds Lounge at Anfield, with no place to stand let alone sit. A sea of cameras dominated the back section of the room, while photographers lay in the aisles and sprawled in front of the top table.

Considering the absence of preparation time as well as the fact he had to deliver his messaging in a second language, it was staggering how surgically and effectively Klopp addressed all his key constituents. He told his new Liverpool ‘family’ there was no need to pull together big speeches — if he believed in what he was saying, so too would the people he needed to.

The first important group to address was the players and as the media attempted to extract negativity about the squad he inherited, he countered, ‘I’m here because I believe in the potential of the team. I’m not a dream man, I don’t want to have Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi and all these players in one team. I want this squad, it was a decision for these guys. Now we start working.’

The recruitment staff that struggled to share common ground with Brendan Rodgers were relieved to hear Klopp shut down talk of trouble with transfer decisions being made collaboratively. ‘If two smart, intelligent, clever guys sit together on a table and you both want the same, where can be the problem? We all want to be successful,’ he said. ‘I’m not a genius, I don’t know more than the rest of the world, I need other people to get me perfect information and when we get this we will sign a player or sell a player.’

Klopp took aim at the British press too, imploring them not to portray him as a messianic figure. ‘Does anyone in this room think that I can do wonders?’ he asked before answering, ‘I’m a normal guy from the Black Forest. I’m the normal one. I hope to enjoy my work. Everyone has told me about the British press. It’s up to you to show me they are all liars!’

The most significant point of his opening press conference was targeted at everyone associated with Liverpool including the supporters. ‘History is only the base for us,’ Klopp said. ‘It is all the people are interested in, but you don’t take history in your backpack and carry it with you for 25 years. We have to change from doubters to believers. We can write a new story if we want.’

Those final two lines were simplistic, but that was by design. It was vital that the message was clear, easy to digest and share. The club’s silverware-lined history and the weight of expectation to deliver the league title had become a noose for previous managers. Klopp walked in and signalled his spell would not be dictated by it, which was different.

Adam Lallana remembers a few of the players watching the unveiling and being blown away by his courage to immediately tackle the ‘weight of the badge, the weight of history, the weight of waiting so long for the title’. He labelled it a ‘chest out’ moment for the group.

‘The gaffer could just see that pressure on everyone’s shoulders and that’s probably what shocked him the most when he first met everyone at the club, especially the players,’ Lallana says. ‘What was great and helped lift it is that he wasn’t just talking to us about that. He spoke to the media about that from day one. There would be games that I’d see him turn around in the dugout, screaming at fans saying, “Why the hell are you having a go? What are you complaining for?” He’d be correcting the behaviour of fans to be more supportive while the game was going on and — just wow! As players, it was huge to see that and there was a collective feeling of, “Oh my god, he’s got all our backs.” We could tell from the beginning we got in just the kind of personality that was needed to make Liverpool successful.’

Long before Klopp’s breakthrough in professional football with Mainz, he explored England via rail for a month. He swapped between sleeping in youth hostels, which offered free accommodation if he cleaned his room, and places that charged £5 as their bed-and-breakfast rate.

‘The weather was not too good, but I love this country,’ Klopp rewound. ‘I loved the language, it didn’t seem too difficult, and I was interested in meeting new people and learning their ways. I always knew I wanted to live here if it was possible. When I became a manager, it was clear that if there was a good opportunity in this country, to go for it.’

He did. And while Klopp’s initial contract in England was for three years to assess his adjustment, just eight months into his tenure he remarked to Mike Gordon that he could imagine being at Liverpool for the rest of his managerial career.

That information was relayed to John Henry and Tom Werner, with FSG getting on the phone to Marc Kosicke and thrashing out terms of a new six-year deal. Klopp was on holiday in Ibiza before ferrying over to Formentera, the smallest of Spain’s Balearic islands. On 16 June, as he celebrated his 49th birthday, he committed his future to the club until 2022. It was ‘the best present’ Klopp could have asked for as he was sure something special was brewing at Liverpool under his guidance. The team’s identity was unmistakable and their ascent had begun. They had lost the League Cup and Europa League finals — but getting to them was the most important takeaway. Their trajectory was clear.

In December 2019, Klopp agreed another extension, this time until 2024. Liverpool were champions of Europe at that stage, but the manager predicted it was only the beginning. ‘This is a statement of intent, one which is built on my knowledge of what we as a partnership have achieved so far and what is still there for us to achieve,’ he said.

Liverpool would go on to become the first team in British history to hold the European Cup, domestic league title, Club World Cup and the Super Cup simultaneously.