Jürgen Klopp, a “normal guy” who revolutionized Liverpool until it became a perfect machine

First thing he did Jurgen Klopp (Stuttgart, 1967) stepping into the Melwood meeting room for the first time – the training center of the Liverpool; that is, her house for almost seven years – was to take a marker and write on a white board: “TERRIBLE”. In capital letters and as big as she could. It was October 2015, he was about to introduce himself to his new players and it had been approximately eight months since he had left Signal Iduna Park, his previous home, walking alone in the rain, only with a backpack, after an elimination from his Borussia Dortmund. against Juventus in the Champions League round of 16. Perhaps motivated by that fall he suffered with Dortmund, the message he gave to everyone’s disbelief was that from that moment on it was how the rivals were going to feel when they faced them. Today, the prophecy was fulfilled: his Liverpool destroyed a Villarreal who fought as hard as he could (led 2-0 at halftime, but then fell 3-2) and got into a new continental final.

Dubbed himself as a “normal guy” (The Normal One), as opposed to Mourinho who called himself special, the German was commissioned to design and build perhaps the most perfect football machine ever seen. A team that represents him on the field with emotional, passionate and frenetic football, something different from that Dortmund that, beyond reaching a Champions League final, had a hard time keeping up and said goodbye to the Champions League with a 5 -1 behind his back. That is why the 45 minutes of incredible dominance that Villarreal exerted, even scoring two goals to equalize the series, were not enough. In the complement, the ‘Reds’ were once again the crusher of rivals and came from behind to win it 3-2 thanks to goals from Fabinho, Colombian Luis Díaz and Sadio Mané.

“They know I love our club and it’s the best place I can be.”, Klopp told all Liverpool fans in the world in a message in which he also announced that he will stay until 2026. The person who seems to live each day as if it were the last without caring about tomorrow, renewed for two years plus a contract that has not yet expired. Love is reciprocal. In fact, when Jürgen landed in the English city he was received as a messiah. The public that immortalizes the anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” embraced him as if he were a savior. A game idea did not arrive, nor a talent resuscitator. A leader arrived, a recruiter of emotions.

“Liverpool was the second most heavily bombed English city by the Nazis, after London. Some 4,000 people died in the blitz of 1940 and 1941. Only three German players ever wore the club’s jersey: Markus Babbel, Didi Hammann and now Emre Can. Finding German flags that water the stands of Anfield, even before Klopp directed a game, it was surprising “wrote the Argentine journalist Martín Manzur in “El Grafico” about how Anfield lived the arrival of Klopp, he considers the fifth Beatle.

In these seven years, the German refounded a historic Liverpool that seemed to be immersed in a nightmare. The club went from being satisfied with qualifying for Champions positions to becoming a reference in world football. He fell, of course he did. But he knew how to get up from the rubble, as he did at the La Cerámica stadium to turn around a 2-0 win against Villarreal. In the coach’s first three seasons, the ‘Reds’ lost the three finals they played (English League Cup and Europa League in 2015-16 and Champions in 2017-18). Then he won three in a row (Champions, European Super Cup and Club World Cup). In 2019-20 and 2020-21 he lost both times he played for the Community Shield.

This campaign started by winning the English League Cup. In fact, If Liverpool win the ‘Orejona’, the FA Cup (they will play the final against Chelsea) and the Premier League (they are Manchester City’s escort with five games to go), they will be the first English team to achieve it. Paris, the city of quiet love, will await rocker Klopp and his “heavy metal” imposed by his Liverpool on May 28. The rival will leave the Santiago Bernabeu: Real Madrid is going for the comeback against Manchester City. It was 4-3 in the first leg.

The man behind the signings and a peculiarity

“I must highlight his role in this trip. His contribution and collaboration has been as important as that of any other person when it comes to putting us in a position that allows us to compete for titles ”he pointed Jurgen Klopp in 2019 when he decided to renew his previous contract until 2024. The German coach spoke of Michael Edwards, who since 2011 was the club’s head of analysis and since the arrival of the coach he became the sports director. That is to say, the mind behind the great signings that Liverpool makes.

Edwards played a pivotal role in signing players like Virgil van Dijkfrom Southampton, for 84.65 million euros, a price that at the time generated controversy but today seems to have been a bargain.

Rooted in the concept of Moneyball – a strategy to enhance the performance and motivation of a team by making the most of the resources and potential of those who make it up – that the owners of the club had already done with the Boston Red Sox, and obviously, together with the work from Jurgen Klopp, is finally bearing fruit. A technique used and inspired by the search for players through analysis and advanced statistics to identify players who could be considered undervalued.

But there is also a certain peculiarity that is talked about: Klopp signs players who show a high level against Liverpool. The Japanese Takumi Minaminofor example, came to the ‘Reds’ in 2019 after astonishing in the Champions League matches when he played for Red Bull Salzburg.

EITHER louis diaz. The Colombian faced Liverpool with Porto in the group stage of the last Champions League. Despite the fact that his team lost in both games, the skillful winger dazzled with his imbalance, the same one he showed to change the face of the English team in the second half against Villarreal.