Manager Profile

Like many top-class managers, as a player Jürgen Klopp was solid, if unspectacular, spending his entire career at FSV Mainz before taking up the reins there for his first steps into management upon retirement in 2001. Going on to become their longest-serving manager, Klopp’s reign was notable for the club being promoted out of the Bundesliga 2 into the top flight for the first time in their history. During their three-year excursion as a Bundesliga team, they also played a preseason friendly with Klopp’s future employers Liverpool in August 2006, where they demolished Rafa's charges 5-0! At the end of that season, however, Die Nullfünfer were relegated in 16th place. Klopp declared his intention to stay on but resigned at the end of the following season as Mainz finished fourth, just outside the promotion places.

Klopp was not to be out of work for long, however. In May 2008, he was hired by Borussia Dortmund, who had finished in an unglamourous 13th place in the 2007/08 season. Klopp’s appointment immediately paid dividends, winning the DFL Supercup and raising the squad from thirteenth to sixth. The next season, their final position increased again, as Dortmund finished fifth. It was in the 2010/11 season, though, that Klopp’s Dortmund really made an impact and made a European household name of their charismatic manager. BVB won their first league title in nine years, being crowned champions with two games to spare and by an eventual margin of seven points. It was not enough for Klopp, and the next season Dortmund did it again, this time with a German-record-breaking tally of 81 points, and stringing together an incredible 28-match unbeaten run. The team also beat Bayern Munich 5-2 in the DFB Pokal to earn the first domestic double in their history. More success was to come in the 2012/13 season, as Borussia escaped a Champions League ‘Group Of Death’ to battle all the way to the final at Wembley Stadium, where a last-minute Arjen Robben goal saw Bayern Munich take the honours at their expense. Yet the bearded one remained upbeat, looking on the bright side and saying: “The only thing I can say is that it was great. London is the town of the Olympic Games. The weather was good, everything is OK. Only the result is sh*t.”

Reaching the Champions League final proved to be the zenith for Klopp in Germany – an injury-ravaged 2013/14 season saw them exit the Champions League at the quarter-finals and fall to second in the league. Dortmund’s form dipped alarmingly in 2014/15, which, often finding themselves occupying the relegation places and ultimately finishing seventh and losing the cup final. Klopp announced in April 2015 that he would not be staying at the club and when Brendan Rodgers was sacked on 4 October that year, Liverpool moved quickly to appoint him four days later. He marked his arrival in the city by having a pint at the Old Blind School bar on Hardman Street, posing for pictures with passers-by. 

At his opening press conference, Klopp described himself as "The Normal One" and Liverpool as a "Special Club". He stated that everyone connected to the club needed to go from doubters to believers. His impact was instant and he led Liverpool to both the League and Europa League finals, but both ended in defeat. The memorable run to the Europa League final against Sevilla in Basle included a round of 16 victory over Manchester United and in the quarter-finals, the Reds were drawn against his old club Borussia Dortmund. After a 1-1 draw in Germany, Liverpool looked to be heading out when Dortmund led 2-0 and 3-1 at Anfield, but a tremendous comeback was completed with Dejan Lovren's injury-time winner. 

League form in 2015/16 was disappointing, with Liverpool eventually finishing eighth. As they progressed in Europe, Klopp often rested his best players ahead of domestic games, but club owners FSG had seen enough to hand him a contract extension, tying him to the club until 2022. The following season the league was clearly priority and Klopp led the club to a first Champions League qualification since 2014. For a few weeks in November the Reds topped the table, but a disappointing run of five games without a win in the New Year put paid to any title hopes and the final points total of 76 was seventeen behind Champions Chelsea. There was also up disappointment in January with defeats to Wolves in the FA Cup 4th round and Southampton in the League Cup semi-final.

2017/18 was the season when Klopp clearly made people sit up and take notice that Liverpool were back on the big stage. Had Sadio Mane not been harshly sent off when the Reds were 1-0 down against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium (a game they would go on to lose 5-0), the Premier League season may well have panned out differently. They eventually finished fourth, securing Champions League qualification on the last day as City ran away with the title and a record-breaking points tally. However, in Europe's premier competition itself, Klopp led the Reds on a glorious run to the final. They hit seven past both Maribor and Spartak Moscow in the group stage, then thrashed Porto 5-0 in Portugal in the first leg of the round of 16. The quarter-final saw Liverpool draw against Manchester City, who were brushed aside 3-0 at Anfield in the first leg. In the second leg, Reds trailed 1-0 at half-time but came from behind to win 2-1 and set up a semi-final tie with Roma. The Reds cruised to a 5-0 lead at Anfield before being pegged back by two late goals. In Rome, they lost 4-2, but the fourth goal came in injury time so progress to the final never looked in doubt. Sadly in Kiev the Reds were defeated 3-1 by Real Madrid, two of the goals down to horrendous goalkeeping errors by Loris Karius.

Klopp had demonstrated in 2017/18 his ability to seek out good players and nurture them into great ones. The signing of left-back Andy Robertson from Hull for just £8 million was a classic example of his shrewdness. Robertson was rarely used in the first three months of the season, but at Melwood he was being taught Klopp's way of playing. When his opportunity came due to Alberto Moreno's injury, Robbo took it and by the end of the season was one of the best attacking full-backs in Europe and had been handed the Scotland captaincy. Another trait Klopp has in the transfer market is not to panic buy. When it was clear in the summer of 2017 that Southampton would not sell defender Virgil Van Dijk, he stuck with what he had until the next transfer window, when a world record fee of £75 million for a defender was paid to bring his first-choice target to the club. Van Dijk has more than repaid that sum since, coming second behind Lionel Messi in the Ballon D'Or awards in 2019.

Under Klopp, Anfield once more became a cauldron and a place where visiting teams fear. Klopp has an unbelievable knack of having all the players like him and run through brick walls for him, even if they have been out of favour. This was demonstrated in the second leg of the 2018/19 Champions League final. Trailing Barcelona 3-0 and without two of their first choice front three, the Reds came back to win 4-0 with stand in striker Divock Origi scoring twice. On a scorching night in Madrid, Liverpool won Europe's top club competition for the sixth time, beating Tottenham 2-0.In the Premier League, the Res amassed 97 points and lost just once all season, but it still wasn't enough to win the title as they trailed Manchester City by just one point.

In 2019/20 Klopp finally led Liverpool to the Holy Grail as the Premier League title was secured in the most surreal of circumstances. The Reds started convincingly, winning their first eight league games. In November they beat City 3-0 at Anfield to open up a nine point gap. This was part of a run of eighteen successive wins that finally ended on 29 February with a surprise 3-0 defeat at Watford. Taking into account the previous season, the total unbeaten league run was 44 games and increased the lead over City to 25 points. Then in March the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic meant the suspension of the Premier League. At this stage Liverpool had a 25 point lead over City and as the weeks went on, there were real fear that the season would not be resumed and at worst declared null and void. Opposition fans mocked that even if the table was finalised on the basis of points per game, Liverpool would always be the asterisk champions. Fears were finally eased at the end of May when the resumption of the Premier League was confirmed for mid June, with all games behind closed doors. Liverpool were confirmed as champions on 25th June when City lost 2-1 at Chelsea. Thousands of fans ignored social distancing regulations to gather at Anfield, while Klopp and his players partied in their 'bubble' at Formby Hall. The trophy was presented to the players on an empty Kop following the last game of the season, a 5-3 victory over Chelsea.

The following season, which began behind closed doors, saw Liverpool win their opening three games before an astonishing 7-2 loss at Aston Villa. Although top at Christmas, they had not shown the same devastating style as the previous season and playing in empty stadiums was clearly a factor in this. There was some hope for fans and players alike in December when a gradual easing of restrictions allowed for three games to be played in front of 2,000 spectators, sparsely distributed around the Kop. At the beginning of January full lockdown was reimposed and it coincided with a collapse in form, the Reds losing six successive league games at Anfield after being unbeaten there for more than three years. Some sections of the media described it as the worst title defence ever, while Klopp was also struggling personally as he was unable to return to Germany when his mother passed away. He managed to inspire the players though to take 26 points of the last 30 available to secure a third place finish and Champions League qualification. The last game of the season, a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace, was played in front of 10,000 fans and there was real optimism looking towards the following season.

By the beginning of 2021/22 all Covid restrictions had been lifted and it began with a 3-0 win at Norwich. Liverpool got their momentum back and it was an unforgettable season which saw them fall devastatingly short of a quadruple. In the league they lost just twice, highlights being a 5-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford and 4-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. However it wasn't enough to secure the title as they again finished just point behind Manchester City, who came from two goals down against Steven Gerrard's Aston villa on the final day of the season to deny the Reds. A third Champions League final in five seasons was reached, but despite dominating possession against Real Madrid, their keeper Courtois was in fine form and the Reds went down 1-0. There was joy in the two domestic cups though, the Reds winning both by beating Chelsea on penalties in each final.

Klopp had given fans a boost by signing a two-year contract extension 28 April 2022 which would keep him at the club until 2026. In his message to fans, he made a play on his song, saying: "I'm in love with here and I feel fine." 2022/23 was a difficult season as the Reds suffered a hangover from the previous seasons near misses. They were well off the pace in the New Year, suffering alarming 3-0 defeats at Brighton and Wolves. Klopp admitted in one press conference that if it wasn't for his previous achievements he could be in line for the sack. One bright spot was a 7-0 demolition of Manchester United at Anfield. The Reds rallied at the end of the season and were unbeaten in their last eleven games, but it was only enough for a fifth placed finish and a first appearance in the Europa League since Klopp's first season.

On 26 January 2024 Klopp astounded the football world with the announcement that he was going to quit Liverpool at the end of the 2023/24 season. Klopp cited lack of energy to go again and again as the reason. At that time Liverpool were chasing a quadruple and completed the first leg by beating Chelsea in the League Cup final on 25 February. However there was disappointment in the FA Cup, twice surrendering the lead against eventual winners Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarter final. There was disappointment in the Europa League too, as Atalanta won 3-0 in the first leg of the quarter final at Anfield. The Reds took an early lead in the second leg but could not add to that and went out 3-1 on aggregate. In the Premier League, a disappointing April, during which the Reds lost at home to Crystal Palace and way to Everton, ended the title challenge and they eventually finished third. On the whole though, it had been a good season in all the circumstances for a team in transition which Klopp dubbed Liverpool 2.0.

On 19 May 2024, Liverpool beat Wolves 2-0 on an emotional day at Anfield as Klopp managed Liverpool for the final time. Their were mosaics on three sides of the ground and afterwards he addressed the fans, telling them that he was now one of them and that the club was in a good place: "It doesn’t feel like an end, it just feels like the start. I saw a football team today full of talent, youth, creativity, desire and greed. That’s one part of development, that’s what you need. Nobody tells you now to stop believing. This club is in a better moment than ever, maybe not ever, I’d have to ask Kenny, but since a long time! We have this wonderful stadium, this wonderful training centre, we have you. The superpower of world football, wow."