Jürgen Norbert Klopp — The Normal One
Jürgen Klopp signed for Liverpool on the 8th of October 2015, following the sacking of Brendon Rogers. The German came here following an impressive seven-year stint at Borussia Dortmund, winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the German Cup. He deemed his football style as heavy metal, aka, ‘Gegenpressing’ was immediately adored by the fans, with the message of changing ‘From doubters to believers’
In the first season, he guided Liverpool to two finals, both ending in defeat, followed by losing one more in 2018. He invested the money wisely in key areas, developing a solid core and a counter-attacking style. In 2019, the trophies started rolling in, winning the Champions League, Super Cup, World Club Cup, and finally the most awaited Premier League trophy after 30 years. Liverpool under Klopp is facing a lot of injuries in 2020–2021 and it would be interesting to see how he copes with it.
From the graph below, it is clear that player values have increased significantly under Klopp. He promoted Alexander-Arnold from the LFC academy, whose value is £121m (2020). Andrew Robertson was signed for a mere £8.10m from relegation side Hull City in 2017 and has become a top-notch left-back and is now valued at around £85.5m. LFC was outscoring the opponents for 1st few years they had to sign a defender to lead the defensive line. In came Virgil van Dijk for £76.19m, whose impact at Liverpool cannot be measured, and, he soon became one of the best CB in the world. Alisson was signed for £88m in 2018 to add the final piece to the defensive line. Both of these players signed from the money gained from Philip Coutinho’s sale to Barcelona.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were both purchased for under £40m and have established themselves as the best in the world, valued at over £130m. Roberto Firmino was signed by the previous manager for £38.5m, but in the past few years has increased to £82.5m.
The midfield consists of the ever-present Gini Wijnaldum, Fabinho, and the captain Jordan Henderson. They are responsible for covering the empty spaces left by the full-backs and breaking up opposition play. Klopp and the LFC board were able to assemble a title-winning machine.
LFC recruitment under Klopp and sporting director Micheal Edwards has been top-notch. Whether signing expensive players such as Virgil van Dijk, Alisson for then world-record signing for a CB and GK respectfully or snapping up gems like Andrew Robertson, Georginio Wijnaldum, etc from the relegation sides.
Jürgen Klopp transformed Liverpool into a successful team, winning multiple trophies including the Champions League and Premier League. Strategic player investments and a strong midfield have been key to their success.
That was Liverpool 1.0 for you, now we are looking forward to the 2023/24 season as we build for Liverpool 2.0.
