Some people will only ever have a bad word to say about Liverpool — just ask Arne Slot, who is having to face accusations of luck as he breezes towards a hugely impressive debut Premier League title. So it was with one Jurgen Klopp coach, who has hit back at the "ridicule" he faced.

Remarkably, Slot is on track to match Klopp's tally of Premier League titles at the very first attempt. But that does not tell the story of an era which transformed the club, where Liverpool became European and world champions from a frankly mediocre starting point.

Klopp also had the misfortune of going up against prime Manchester City. But he left no stone unturned in his quest for excellence, and by the time he left, he was responsible for three of the top seven Premier League points hauls of all time.

READ MORE: Newcastle stars had telling reaction to Anthony Gordon red card that benefits Liverpool

READ MORE: 7 Newcastle players who could miss Carabao Cup final vs Liverpool with Anthony Gordon banned

One avenue where Klopp pursued marginal gains was in the set piece department. That included the much-neglected throw-in.

Liverpool first turned to specialist coach Thomas Gronnemark in the summer of 2018. It had just lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid, but there was a palpable sense that it stood on the cusp of greatness.

And it was no surprise to see his stay extended after the Reds powered their way to European glory the following season, notching up 97 points in the league for good measure. Gronnemark would certainly not try to claim any major share of the credit — but as much as anything else, the fact that one of the greatest points tallies of all time was only enough for second place will have reinforced Klopp's desire to keep pursuing fine margins.

Nevertheless, Gronnemark was something of a figure of fun in the media. While some praised the innovation, others mocked Liverpool for doing things differently.

But Gronnemark has revealed that he was not fazed. He looked to where the snide remarks were coming from:

"You also again have to ask yourself, who is laughing?", he told The Football Historian Podcast. "So of course, I have some personalities who want to have some attention because they laughed at me, like Andy Gray, Richard Keys.

"Then I also have some people who ridiculed me because they were fans of Everton or Manchester United because I was coaching in Liverpool FC. So for me, it was no problem, it was actually, you just have to look at first of all who’s saying these things and then, that’s one thing, and then can you prove that you’re actually right…"

Sure enough, Gray counts Everton among his former clubs. As for Keys, you wouldn't go too far wrong by consistently adopting the exact opposite beliefs to the ones he espouses.

But Gronnemark admits he also had to deal with comments from a former Liverpool player. However, he claims that the pile-on only brought him more supporters:

"Every time a person who is like saying something crazy about me and my coaching, my work in Liverpool for example, Andy Gray and Richard Keys," Gronnemark reiterated. "But it was also Steve Nicol in a long period in ESPN FC, you know every time they said that – I got more supporters."

Nicol has a claim to be known as a Liverpool legend, having racked up more than 450 appearances during a trophy-laden period for the club. But his punditry career has been less storied, to the point where Gronnemark was certainly right not to lose any sleep over his remarks.

Liverpool and Gronnemark parted ways in 2023. But the likes of Nicol, Keys and Gray would surely not have been anticipating a fruitful five-year relationship when Klopp first appointed his new coach — the ridicule proved premature, and the Dane had the last laugh.