Klopp For The Kop

The title was a given really, wasn’t it? Prepare yourselves, if we’re ever in danger of relegation then “Kop Flop Klopp Drops” is going to be front page news, we’re a tabloid’s dream now. Though given the history of our new manager, we probably are anyway.
Yes, Jurgen Klopp has officially signed on a 3-year-contract to be Brendan Rodger’s replacement, a signing that’s elicited fervent excitement from Liverpool fans and disgruntled murmurs of “well, he probably isn’t that good anyway” from most opposition fans. They’re wrong. Jurgen Klopp is the most exciting signing - managerial or not - that Liverpool have made in years.

Detractors will point to his final season in the Bundesliga in which his Dortmund team finished a somewhat mediocre seventh place and went out in the cup final to Wolfsburg. A poor season by his own high standards, I’m sure he’d readily admit, but this is a Dortmund side that had been absolutely ravaged by injuries and was actually flirting with relegation before they were dragged up the table with a fantastic second half to the season. This is a Dortmund side that before Klopp arrived had been mid-table and battling the drop, with yearly net spends of under £5m, a side that had yet to become the hipsters choice of football club when they wanted to appear trendy in pretentious bars. A Dortmund side that Klopp guided to two consecutive league victories over a previously dominant Bayern Munich and a Champion’s League final. Remember what they were like, fellow Liverpool fans?

For all of his clear prowess as a manager, both tactically and as a man-manager, that’s not the most exciting thing about him signing. No, the most exciting thing about Jurgen Klopp is his insatiable love and passion for football. A quick galivant (word of the day) over to Youtube for videos of our new manager will reveal a host of videos showcasing nothing but his ‘Best Celebrations’, videos that show him hugging and joining in with his players that clearly adore him, and videos with lines like this;

(When referring to Arsenal) “ “It’s like an orchestra, but it’s a silent song, yeah? And I like heavy metal more.”

We’ve spent the past three years with a manager who at one point dreamt of tiki-taka passing, hoarding possession, and ‘death by football’. That dream seemed to die the day Suarez left, and since then it’s been a bizarre concoction of different tactics with no real defined style, there’s been no clear identity to Liverpool’s play since Benitez left, and that’s one thing we can count on Klopp to fix. Get ready for intense pressing, counter-attacking and quick retaliation. Henderson must be thrilled right now. The man won’t be a miracle worker, he’s not the second coming and he’s not going to turn us into title challenger’s overnight… but you know what? Give him a few years, and he just might do it.

Until then, a good challenge for the fabled Top 4 trophy and the signs that we’re beginning to play decent football again should be about all we expect in his first season, and it’s important that we as supporters temper our expectations and allow him the time to build the team in his image. He’s an exciting character who’s going to breathe life into our club and the Premier League as a whole, and his signing is a huge statement of intent from our owners who many have accused of being happy with midtable in the past.

Jurgen Klopp is not a midtable manager, he’s one of the top ten or so managers on the planet, and maybe, just maybe, he’ll be the one to drag us back onto our perch. Plus he rocks a cap like it’s nobody’s business.