In October 2015, Liverpool’s situation could only be described as dire. Coached by Brendan Rodgers up to that point, the Northern Irishman was fired almost immediately after a 1-1 draw against Everton that left the Reds in 10th place in the Premier League. Rodgers would be replaced by Jürgen Klopp who’d recently concluded a highly successful seven-year stint at the helm of Borussia Dortmund - and the rest would be history.
Klopp’s tenure at Anfield actually didn’t start off all that well. The German wasn’t handed all that much to work with when he first stepped into the Anfield dugout - and the results bore that out. Liverpool finished the season in eighth place in the league, failing to qualify for even the next season’s Europa League. However, after that, one of the greatest eras in Liverpool’s storied history would begin.
Over the next eight seasons, Liverpool would finish in the top four of the league every season bar one, averaged 82 points per season in league play, and reached the Champions League final thrice. Along the way, Liverpool would win the Premier League in 2020, the FA Cup in 2022, and most importantly of all, the Champions League in 2019 - an achievement that once and for all solidified Klopp’s position as one of the greatest coaches of all time.
The difference between pre-Klopp and post-Klopp Liverpool is truly stark. Prior to Klopp’s hiring, the Merseyside club appeared devoid of any direction or plan. Having finished in the top four of the league just once over the prior six seasons, Liverpool appeared to be in genuine danger of fading into irrelevance. However, that all changed on the very day that Klopp took over.
Even though the results didn’t come right away, Klopp quickly impressed the Liverpool fanbase who noticed at once that things already felt different. Klopp brought a combination of tactical mastery, control over the team’s internal matters, and just general “vibes” that hadn’t been seen at Anfield since Liverpool’s prior heydays from decades ago.
Klopp’s three-year Liverpool peak spanning from the 2017-18 to 2019-20 seasons is among the highest in modern football history - especially when accounting for the fact that Liverpool really did that without being the wealthiest of clubs. Over those three seasons, Klopp had Liverpool punching way above their weight - evidenced by the following: two Champions League finals (winning one), one Premier League title and one second-place finish, and an average of 90 points in the league per season. Klopp himself was twice awarded The Best FIFA Men’s Coach; these accolades came in 2019 and 2020.
Just as he did at Dortmund, Klopp turned many Liverpool players into bona fide superstars and even all-time greats. Before becoming part of Klopp’s Liverpool team, very few would’ve ever thought that the likes of Sadio Mané, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, and of course Mohamed Salah who eventually went on to become probably the greatest player to ever put on that iconic red jersey would’ve reached the heights that they did.
As the door closes on the Klopp era at Liverpool, the question of where he stands with regard to the history of Liverpool coaches has to be posed. With everything taken into account, Klopp is only second to Bob Paisley. Paisley’s six league titles and three European Cups were always going to be a near-impossible task to overhaul. However, it’s clear that Klopp has surpassed all of the rest of them, especially given the relative lack of resources he’d been working with.
Next season, Klopp will be replaced by Arne Slot who will leave Feyenoord after three years at the Rotterdam club. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans, the reality is that in spite of Slot’s best efforts, Liverpool will almost certainly suffer a decline next season. Part of that will have to do with the intense pressure on Slot and how he’ll handle replacing one of the greatest to ever do it. Another part, of course, will be because while Slot is no scrub by any means, he’s not even close to someone who’s basically a consensus top 10 coach of all time.
Considering where Liverpool were before Jürgen Klopp took over, one wonders what would have become of them had someone else been hired. Instead, thanks to Klopp, Liverpool fans got to witness the club’s rebirth as they once again asserted their status as a powerhouse of English football.
There’ll never be another like him.
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