Advertisement

Jürgen Klopp's greatest moments as Liverpool manager as told by fans

Jürgen Klopp stands arms aloft having won the Premier League with Liverpool.
Jürgen Klopp will leave Liverpool as one of the best managers in the club's history. -Credit:Photo by LAURENCE GRIFFITHS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images


Liverpool will pay an emotional tribute to Jürgen Klopp this weekend at Anfield, and in truth, the long goodbye has already begun. The 3-3 draw with Aston Villa was his final away game and Klopp admitted during his final press conference, ahead of facing Wolves, that this had been the 'most intense week' of his life.

With nearly nine years at the helm, there have been some incredible highs. No manager in the world could have been as perfectly aligned with the values and the ethos of what Liverpool is all about than Klopp. Before he departs, Liverpool.com asked some Reds fans to give us their favorite moments so we could compile and relive the best of them.

Jürgen Klopp gives Arne Slot verdict and warns next Liverpool boss of biggest challenge

Liverpool faces costly Everton complication in $127m transfer pursuit

Dan Clubbe (The RedMen TV)

For me, the win over Barcelona was just the most archetypal Jürgen Klopp moment from his tenure at Liverpool and, in turn, is my favorite. From the immediate aftermath of the Nou Camp to the 'because it's you we have a chance', the way the boss articulated our thoughts and feelings supporting this club and masterminded one of the greatest nights in Anfield history, is remarkable. Against all the odds, the impossible was achieved and it was capped off with the most magical You'll Never Walk Alone in front of The Kop. I've never experienced sheer unbridled joy quite like it.

Josh Sexton (The Anfield Wrap)

My favorite Jürgen Klopp memory is his celebration after Divock Origi’s 96th-minute Merseyside derby winner. Football should be all about joy and allowing yourself to get carried away in the moment, and Klopp has proven that even in such a reputable role as his, he doesn’t see himself as above that. I also admire that he showed his introspective side after that moment by apologizing to Everton and then-manager Marco Silva as he 'didn’t want to be disrespectful'. It’s moments like that which show the measure of the man for me and showed just how bang on he was when he dubbed himself 'the normal one'.

Andrew Beasley (Liverpool.com writer)

I was asked for 100 words. I could’ve delivered 100 memories. I have viewed many of the best moments of Jürgen Klopp’s tenure through a TV screen. But being there in person cuts differently. The 4-2 home win over Hoffenheim in 2017 was hardly one of those cliched glorious European nights at Anfield. I was there, though, so it means a hell of a lot to me.

It was the beginning of the run that encapsulated three Champions League finals in five years, so it was a small but vital stepping stone from small acorns, and all that. The highlight was a wonderful move which was finished by Emre Can of all people. Klopp loved it to such an extent he screamed ‘THIS IS FOOTBALL’ at the Main Stand. For most of the last nine years, this was the brand of fast-flowing attacking football in which Liverpool supporters reveled. Danke, Jürgen.

Adam Brown (Liverpool.com writer)

I think one of the stand-out memories for me is Liverpool's win over Borussia Dortmund at Anfield in Klopp's first season. Not long after Adam Lallana's last-minute winner at Norwich when Klopp broke his glasses, it was the first "Klopp comeback" during a game in which there was a genuine fear of losing. That match turned out to be a precursor for what was to come four years later when Klopp counted up to six on his hands during Liverpool's Champions League-winning celebration parade on the open-top bus in 2019.

Tom Beattie (Sports writer and LFC fan)

If there is one thing I have learned from Jürgen Klopp is that football is often a journey. The journey itself may not always end in success but it is best to enjoy every last moment of the ride while it lasts. I will never forget my own adventure to Kyiv to watch Liverpool face Real Madrid in the Champions League final in 2018.

We set off in the early hours bound for Ukraine, many of us in disbelief that our time had come to watch the Reds in a European Cup final. That run had been soundtracked by the sound of ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’ and so it was no surprise on the approach to the famous Shevchenko Park in the center of Kyiv that strains of the anthem could be heard long before we finally found ourselves there. Finally, inside the fan park, I can honestly say that I had some of the most memorable hours of my life. With the sun beating down on the thousands of fans gathered there that day, we sang our hearts out while enjoying the buzz of the anticipation that accompanied a game of that magnitude. Once inside the stadium, the game did not turn out how supporters would have hoped but there was an odd sense that this team was only getting started.

It is a strange feeling to articulate but nobody in that ground that night in Liverpool red felt that we had witnessed a fatal blow to the team’s resolve. With a world-class manager in place and the seeds of what would become his classic side already taking shape, it felt like we would be back sooner rather than later. Any melancholy evaporated entirely when a video of Klopp emerged of him singing at 6am that same morning, vowing to bring the cup ‘back to Liverpool’. For me, that was a standout moment in his reign with his defiance in the face of adversity inspiring belief in both the players and fans alike.

Looking back, the loss that night probably was one of the most significant moments in Klopp’s reign. The pain of going so close provided the springboard for going one better the next year, while the Premier League title would finally follow soon after that. Klopp now departs having won the clean sweep of major prizes on offer both domestically and on the continent. It felt like the Klopp era, as we came to know it, started that night in Kyiv. We may have lost on the night but we knew we were at the start of a journey. You could just feel it. Fast forward six years and it has been the adventure of a lifetime.

Morgan O’Sullivan (LFC fan and Liverpool.com contributor in Florida)

So many moments and so many memories, but some of the best moments happened off the field. If you go to YouTube and type in 'Happy Birthday from Jürgen Klopp', you will learn that somehow the Liverpool media team got the manager to sing Happy Birthday to YOU. Every year, and for every birthday, the message was rolled out in our house.

The night we won the league, we learned that Jürgen had called Alex Ferguson to wake him up telling him we had won it. Running onto the field after the Origi goal at Anfield. The touchline celebrations with the players. Amazing wins against Norwich, Dortmund, Barcelona, City and United will never be forgotten. He kicked every ball, won every tackle, and felt every loss. He is, and always will be, one of us.

Nick Sapia (LFC supporters' club in Boston)

My favorite Jürgen Klopp memory is from January 14th, 2018, when Liverpool dealt Manchester City their first Premier League loss of the season at Anfield in a 4-3 thriller. The first half was such a high-quality football match, but watching Liverpool completely overwhelm City in the second half just had it all: stunning goals from Firmino, Mané, and Salah; a suffocating press that City could not handle; a delirious Anfield; and, of course, Jürgen sprinting up and down the sideline delivering gigantic fist pumps to the crowd.

It was a euphoric feeling I'll never forget, and watching Liverpool dismantle a historically good team the way they did emphatically showed that the Reds were on their way to something extraordinary with the manager. To top it all off, Klopp excitedly curses on live TV afterward. Then, when the on-air hosts apologize, he laughs, looks at the camera, shrugs, and says, "I thought in America it's okay?" He's a legend, and I'll miss him dearly.