How good a manager is Jurgen Klopp? That’s a rhetorical question by the way. But I’ll answer it anyway. He’s better than good, way better than good. This is a man who arrived at a club still reeling from the near miss, the dreaded slip; a set of supporters who had lost their mojo and their belief. Not a job you’d necessarily relish. But in he strolled (or bounced) and just got on with it.
Things were instantly different. He didn’t try to ease the players in. Was it Spurs away that first game? I can’t remember, but I remember the thrill of seeing our players legging it at the opposition. Charging up and down the pitch like men suddenly possessed. It didn’t quite seem to pay off but fuck was it exciting? Another rhetorical question. Yes it was! A little hint, well a big massive one to be fair, of things to come. And no one really minded what the result was. The reality was we now had Jurgen Klopp and things were going to be different.
He did the bowing at The Kop thing after a home draw. We sang his name and he told us not to. He pulled funny facial expressions and jumped about in the technical area. He punched the air, a lot. And did that sort of twirly fist thing like Shaun Ryder singing Step On.
And fast forward to today. He’s given us three glorious runs to cup finals. And established us back as a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League. And he’s knitted together a fantastic side, with depth and quality and a real spine, sitting joint top in the league. We couldn’t have asked for a lot more.
But I still haven’t even touched on why I started writing this.
I just genuinely feel grateful to the man. For the football, yes. But also for the way he conducts himself. The ease of his press interviews, post-match when he’s juiced. Pre-match when he’s thoughtful and intelligent. A football focus special report. You name it, he nails it. Every time. Never fails to do us proud. To do Liverpool F.C. proud. And not make a show of us. Yes, THAT’S IT. That’s exactly it. He says stuff and you go, ‘yeah, spot on Jurgen’. He’s in tune. He’s clever and engaging and opposition fans like him. More than that, most of them want him at their club. But he’s ours. He’s our Klopp, and thank the Lord fowler almighty for that!
Maybe it’s time for that terrible life is life song. Terrible yes, but a great one to sing in the shower by the way. Try it!
He’s taken over power
He’s only just begun
He’s gonna bring us glory
And he fuckin hates the S*n.
Okay, maybe not. It was never about the song, I just needed somewhere to post my feelings on the great man during a long train journey home.
Fuckin love him.
(It’s still a great one in the shower though!)