One could argue that one league title in nine full years leaves a little bit more to be desired. The context to this is that the close title losses in 2019 and 2022 were to non-other than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, a ruthlessly effective, domineering, expensively but efficiently assembled winning machine with a return of 6 league titles in 8 years.
When we ride with the intensity and emotions that the beautiful game brings, game after game, season after season, it is easy to forget just how much things may have changed from what they once were. In a span of 8 to 9 years, in the life of a footballer, a manager, a team, a lot can indeed happen. It has been close to 9 years, when Liverpool Football Club appointed Jurgen Klopp as its Manager. As the German closes the curtain on his Anfield reign to take a much-deserved break from football, a critical look into the triumphs and trials of his reign at Anfield could not have come at a better time.
Klopp was by no means a lightweight coming to Anfield and he had more than enough laurels to flaunt from his prior engagements. Top of the list were two back-to-back German Bundesliga titles in 2011 & 2012, a German Cup trophy and a Champions League final appearance with Borussia Dortmund. Such feat, in a league that had been dominated by the giants in Munich stood out for its rarity. For perspective, it would take another 12 years for another team not based in Munich to win the title – Bayer Leverkusen.
Liverpool had gone through a topsy-turvy decade, prior to Klopp’s appointment. A run of four managers in close to 10 years had produced a Champions League trophy in 2005, a handful of cup finals but also significantly disappointing league finishes with no top-four appearance from 2009/2010 to 2014/2015, barring a surprise second place finish in 2013/2014. The marriage between the new manager and club was, therefore, supposed to be a union of mutual ambitions – a club desperate to get back into reckoning and regain its pride of place, and a manager hungry to conquer new grounds and take up tougher challenges. And it was, in significant respects.
The union was not seamless from the beginning. Like most new managers, Klopp had to deal with a squad lacking balance, ageing players, budgetary constraints and in the face of it all, demanding fans eager to see their club get back to glory days within the shortest possible time. Despite all these, Klopp navigated the club to two cup finals in the season he took over, ultimately falling short of glory in both. In hindsight, one would think that that was a foretelling of what was to come – moving close enough to have one hand on success, but ultimately missing out in painful circumstances. This scenario would play again out in the seasons to follow.
Nine long years later, and Klopp’s Liverpool trophy bag contains 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 Premier League title, 1 FA Cup title, 2 League Cup titles, 1 Community Shield, 1 FIFA Club World Cup and 1 UEFA Super Cup. For perspectives, Klopp got Liverpool into 3 UEFA Champions League Finals, losing twice to Real Madrid, finished as league runners-up twice, in both cases losing to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
One could argue that one league title in nine full years leaves a little bit more to be desired. The context to this is that the close title losses in 2019 and 2022 were to non-other than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, a ruthlessly effective, domineering, expensively but efficiently assembled winning machine with a return of 6 league titles in 8 years. Only Chelsea (2016/2017) and Liverpool (2019/2020) have interrupted the reign of Guardiola’s Manchester City at the summit of English Football. In the 2017/2018 season for example, Klopp’s Liverpool a mass eda total of 97 points, a record tally for a team not winning the title. In other circumstances, Klopp’s Premier League credentials would have left little to be contested, but football is not a game reputed for its fairness, not even to the most deserving.
It is noteworthy that Klopp operated with total spend of slightly above 1billion Euros (€1.05b) from 2016 to 2024. In the same span of years, Liverpool were significantly outspent by Chelsea (€2.14b), Manchester City (€1.72b), Manchester United (€1.50b) and Arsenal (€1.19b), all serial top four contenders in the same period. Only Tottenham Hotspurs (€1.04b) have spent less that the Reds in the same period. In an era where success has become more closely tied to big budgets, limitless spending and statement signings, it would be quite interesting, and this is putting it mildly, to suggest that Klopp’s Liverpool era has been a failure or having underwhelmed in any respect. The numbers, contexts and realities of the modern-day game and his operating environment would suggest that he did extract more than enough value for the club’s investment in that period.
For a club with a long record of dramatic nights and memorable victories, Klopp did add a fair number to that record. From the night of the 2019 UCL victory against Spurs, at the Bernabeu, to the capitulation of the Catalans at Anfield prior to that, brushing off Borussia Dortmund in 2016, raiding the Romans in 2018, or the countless battles against Pep Guardiola’s troops at home and away in all competitions, there would be no shortage of memories to recall. And there were no shortage of heartbreaks either. Losing two cup finals and the end of the season he took over, losing both Champions League finals to Real Madrid in 2018 & 2022, Losing the EPL to Pep’s army, despite amassing a record 97 points would indeed top the list of the downtimes.
Beyond the matches, the figure, personality and mannerisms of Klopp on the sidelines, fist pumping, teeth gnashing, confronting match officials for perceived injustice, or shouting instructions at the loyal troops battling on the pitch, is one that many fans will miss.
Klopp’s reign has seen Liverpool transition to consistent Premier League and Champions League challengers and top-four regulars with a fan base that has every reason to look forward to the post Klopp era with optimism. An optimism based on a culture of consistency driven by a winning spirit painstakingly restored over the past eight years. The optimism and that a new manager whoever that might be, has a solid foundation to take the club forward in his own direction, a luxury Jurgen Klopp was not afforded when he took the reins in 2015.
Contacts: [email protected]
Phone: 08036066211