Klopp: My Liverpool Romance

Never ever before has any German been so popular in Great Britain. Admit it, if you had to become one person from the entire world of football, you’d like to be Jürgen Klopp. If I had any doubts before reading this book, now I am completely sure of it. Anthony Quinn found a way to describe the German manager in a way that even Everton and Manchester United would have loved Klopp after reading his book.

It’s not the first book about Klopp and his life. The Author didn’t make that mistake and he hasn’t just rewritten Jürgen’s biography in slightly different words. It’s a mixture of Klopp’s stories, tales of Liverpool FC 2015-2020, Quinn’s personal feelings and comparisons between two brilliant LFC managers – Jürgen Klopp and Bill Shankly. You probably had no idea how similar those two geniuses are. There is an ‘A-Z’ chapter which is a peculiar alphabet of Klopp and his numerous links with the Glenbuck-born football legend and it clearly shows how much they have in common.

All the interludes and digressions make reading these football stories easier and more entertaining. They let you get away from it all for a moment, creating unusual intervals between the stories of football games, leagues, players and stats. The movie about some survivors on a desert. The idea for a sketch. Extracts from the personal diary. The kids riding on dogs in Huyton. That sort of things which I’d had no idea I needed to read them, until I did. Decent sense of humour and relaxed attitude, as if it was all written by Klopp himself, are great pros of the book. You don’t feel bored of it. You don’t feel tired of it. You go through the pages smoothly, until you reach its happy ending [SPOILER ALERT! Oh, I’m sorry…].

Why do we all like reading the books written by Liverpool fans, rather than neutral observers? Because we have a feeling that the author desribes our own thoughts too. Sometimes unspoken, difficult to put in the right words. We’ve all felt these emotions in the last five years, starting from the day when Klopp was appointed LFC manager. Well, I agreed with many parts of it and I was a bit surprised – usually it’s difficult to find a sentence which I’m not trying to disagree with, in this way or that way. ‘Klopp: My Liverpool Romance’ matches that important requirement: it’s been written by a LFC supporter and you can sense it from the very beginning. I hate reading ‘neutral’ football books and authors who don’t want to get emotionally involed. They are boring. I am wasting my time on them. The fact that Anthony Quinn is a Red ans he shows enough passion for the game and the club gives the book additional value.

Can I say that I didn’t have big expectations, seeing yet another book about Klopp? Yes, because I thought it would be no different to others. Can I say that I enjoyed reading it? Yes, because it actually was and I was (fortunately) wrong. Can I recommend it to other Liverpool fans? Yes, because it’s interesting and you won’t be bored for a second. If you find it in your closest bookstore, take the risk and spend a few pounds on it or order online. Trust me, there’s no risk.