Five Defining Moments in Klopp’s Five Years

Liverpool FC has put out a video of the ten defining moments of
Jürgen Klopp’s tenure; which are your top five? Any moments you
would add?

Picking Five from the Club’s Selection:

“Celebrating the draw with West Brom”

Jürgen Klopp drew attention — and misunderstanding — when, early
in his tenure as Reds’ boss, he gathered the team in a line to
“celebrate” a late-fought 2-2 draw with Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion in December 2015. Pulis,
and the media, misunderstood the gesture. In preceding weeks, Klopp
had noted that he felt “alone” as supporters got off from the
ground early. This “celebration” was not what it seemed: Klopp and
his players were simply thanking the supporters for staying, for
not packing it in.

In the club
video, Klopp reminds us that “we are not alone on this planet
and we for sure should not be alone in a football game, not the
supporters, not the team — otherwise it makes no sense.”

Perhaps one of the most defining elements of the Klopp era at
Liverpool is the sense of community he has built,
amongst fans and players alike.

Photo
by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

“Losing the League Cup Final on
penalties”

Though we may forget it now, Klopp once had a reputation for
losing when it mattered, for losing in cup finals, for lacking the
final piece. Losing to Manchester
City in 2016 after coming so close to silverware is an almost
forgotten cup final failure, perhaps, but should have given early
warning signs of the squad’s mental resilience.

“I always say and I really think the only reason for a defeat is
to react in the right way; if you learn off it, then it’s a just
result; if you don’t learn off it then it is a disaster.”

His Reds learned, though maybe not right away.

“Sevilla prevails in the Europa League”

After losing in Basel in 2016 so soon after the League Cup loss,
Klopp insisted that the boys “tried” and that the squad would “come
back.” Reflecting on the Europa League loss now, the boss does not
think anything would be different had his side won silverware. “We
learned off it, and I think we would have learned off it as well if
we would have won.”

“Qualifying for a final is pretty much in all parts of life a
massive achievement, until you lose it, and then it’s like all the
rest never happened…You try everything, you get something or
nothing, and then you try again.”

Would you rather lose a final than never be in one at all?

“97 points gets just second place”

Another test of the squad’s resilience, achieving near
perfection in the Premier League in 2019/20 and getting nothing in
return. Before the Reds lifted the sixth European Cup in Madrid,
they had to sit with the fact that they came within a point of the
19^th Premier League title. They had to reflect on the
effort expended, and whether or not the effort was worth it —
whether or not they could go again in 2020/21. The points tally was
not the only number Klopp uses to define the domestic season:

“The number was not 97 points, it was 11 mm [when we didn’t
score at Manchester City] … Giving absolutely everything
doesn’t guarantee that you win anything, but it’s your only
chance.”

Indeed, falling short from so close did nothing if not spur the
Reds on (and a sixth European Cup might have helped as well — don’t
worry, the club tapped the Barcelona comeback and the final in
Madrid as defining moments, too).

Photo
by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

“Ending the 30-year wait”

It wasn’t 30 years of hurt, was it? We’ve seen things they’ll
never see, even in this 30-year drought of titles, after all. But
an appreciation of the joys and journeys and moments between the
18^th and 19^th titles is not to say that the
achievement of the 2019/20 season was not the holy grail for fans
and players alike.

Klopp is quick to put last season’s title into another
perspective: “Now it’s just another milestone in the history of
this fantastic club.”

Just one of the 19 titles won by Liverpool Football Club, then,
as Klopp looks to add more to the club’s history.

One to Add?

There are so many memorable moments, but perhaps one too often
overlooked is the first.

On October 17^th 2015, Liverpool
FC played their first game under brand new manager, Jürgen
Klopp. They played Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur in a game that finished with a
sterile 0-0 scoreline, but in practice was anything but.

Even though he had just arrived in Merseyside, Klopp oversaw a
match of incredible intensity in the press, which was so
well-organized (and led by early leader of the Klopp project,
Adam Lallana) viewers might be forgiven for
thinking that the squad and manager had been together for some
time. An clearly-defined gegenpress was set against Pochettino’s
own high-press, and the quality of play was a breath of fresh air.
From the moment it began, Klopp’s tenure showed promise.

Reflecting on it also shows how far we’ve come: gone are the
days of frantic, heavy-metal, high-scoring (and conceding, bar
Aston Villa’s showing at the weekend, let’s absolutely
not talk about that) gegenpress; Klopp’s Reds are now more patient,
calculating, organized — but still intense. Changed, too, are the
personnel: of the XI from Klopp’s first match, only James Milner would start in the Champions
League Final three years later. How promising was the start,
and how far we have come.

Watch the club’s video of Ten Defining moments under
Klopp here. Which moment would you
add?