During a long trek across Dartmoor at the weekend, I reflected on how much I've fallen in love with football again in recent years, and how much of it is down to Klopp.
The main thing I like about his template and his work with us so far is how its all grown organically. He knew he couldn't make wholesale changes in one season and has instead made incremental improvements in every aspect of the club both on and off the pitch since he joined (like every great manager should). It's the approach Ferguson took at Utd, and is ironically the approach that's been abandoned since he left in favour of a random scattergun approach to managers and signings.
Klopp started with the fans and turning doubters into believers, as he knew no matter what he achieved with signings, he needed fans to be 100% behind them whether we win, lose or draw. He then addressed the player recruitment side so that players who fit the philosophy and system (and had the right character) were scouted and bought, instead of some of the square pegs in round holes we had for so many years before him. He then signed Mane and Salah and developed one of the best forward lines in Europe, knowing his heavy metal approach would beat teams even if they scored against us. He then focused on the defence and signed Robertson, promoted Trent, developed Matip, and then signed Virgil and Alisson - creating one of Europe's best defences from scratch and adopting a more cautious and controlled approach to games, as he knew we had less chance of conceding. Keita and Ox were also added, and are arguably the only big signings that are yet to deliver consistently, although both with mitigating circumstances.
I think we need to remind ourselves sometimes just what has been achieved. Whether its free signings (Matip, Adrian), inherited players (Milner, Firmino, Gomez, Origi), talented youngsters (Trent, and now Elliot/Jones/Hoever and others), mid-priced players that have been improved (Salah, Mane, Wijnaldum, Fabinho), or big money solutions (Virgil, Alisson) - almost every single player has either improved dramatically or become one of the best (if not the best) in the league in their respective positions under his leadership. He's also focused on player retention, to keep the harmony and consistency going with a tight knit squad that are less likely to have their heads turned.
There's been plenty of interesting debate about whether our midfield needs improving - some fans want a more attacking and creative setup that adds assists and goals, whilst others argue that's not their job, and that the full backs and front 3 are giving us what we need. Certainly many of us see a midfield 3 of Fabinho, Keita and Ox as a possible dream combination, and whilst that may or may not be what takes us to another level, the fact that we're European champions and 5 points clear in the league without two of those three is testament to what our current midfielders have contributed in the last 18 months. Hopefully we reach the point soon when there is no longer a debate, and Klopp can just use any combination available to suit the opposition. Fortunately the rest of the squad is still young enough to have the time for that midfield to develop and be at their peak at the same time, and it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next two transfer windows as Klopp looks to develop his options further - most likely at left back and cover for the front three.
The Anfield Wrap had a good piece the other day where they mentioned how the generation that enjoyed the glory days of either the 70's 80's, or 90's (or all three decades) no longer have to look back misty eyed, or tell younger fans what it used to be like. We're all living those days again right now, and it feels bloody great.
