Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp-era has come to an end after 9 years. After inheriting a team floundering the league and disconnected from its fans, he leaves them having reclaimed the Premier League title, won the Champions Leauge, and picked up almost everything else there is to win along the way.
But how did an otherwise unassuming man from Stuttgart completely change the trajectory of one of England's biggest clubs, and why will his legacy in the league be felt for so many years to come? Adam Clery travels back to 2015, and charts the man's course through footballing history.
But how did an otherwise unassuming man from Stuttgart completely change the trajectory of one of England's biggest clubs, and why will his legacy in the league be felt for so many years to come? Adam Clery travels back to 2015, and charts the man's course through footballing history.
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00:00Good Morgan everybody, Adam Clear here from 442, slightly concerned that there may be
00:08too much blue at his top for the background to work effectively, but at least my therapist
00:12will be thrilled, as she's been telling me I need to be more transparent for years
00:16now.
00:17That's not a joke.
00:19Anyway, speaking of trauma, Jurgen Klopp has now officially left Liverpool, but before
00:23we fully commit to the Arnie slot era, which still sounds absolutely terrible to me, I
00:28thought now would be a really good time to go back through the emotional, sporting and
00:33tactical journey that Klopp took Liverpool FC on during his time at the helm.
00:38Because when you look at where it started and you think about where it went, it is probably
00:42one of the most fascinating stories in the entire history of English football.
00:47So Jurgen Klopp, mind chum, this is your life.
00:54Okay, so mighty bush mode, let us now take a journey through time and space.
01:00The year is 2015, Liverpool had not long ago very nearly won the league, but they came
01:04into this season absolutely stinking of Brendan Rodgers.
01:09And just before we go any further, Liverpool fans, just take a minute to look at this side,
01:15breathe this in.
01:17Somehow Klopp evolved this XI into one of the best teams in the history of the Premier
01:23League.
01:24You want to back three with Emre Can and if for some reason Reino was still here, Lucas
01:28and Milner were possibly the least threatening central midfield pair you've ever seen in
01:32your life.
01:33And also Danny Ings for some reason.
01:35They were unable to beat Everton that day, surprise, surprise, and Rodgers got to the
01:39boot.
01:40And in his place, four days later, Liverpool unveiled the appointments of Jurgen Klopp.
01:44He'd had incredible success at Dortmund, but massively dropped off in his final season
01:48as it felt that project was sort of naturally coming to an end.
01:51So his stock maybe wasn't as high as it once was, but just his personality and the way
01:57he connected with the fan base and what he had done at that club felt that he was a perfect
02:01fit for an aspiring Premier League team.
02:04And it does seem obvious now given his time at the club, but when the appointment was
02:07initially made, people didn't really put those connections between Dortmund and Liverpool
02:12as footballing institutions together right away.
02:15Like Dortmund are a massive club in Germany, but in recent years have been unable to compete
02:19with the financial powerhouses in their league.
02:22But Klopp came in, recognised that their greatest strength was the connection between the team,
02:27the fan base and the city, used that along with some good tactical innovation and some
02:31smart shopping in the transfer window to bridge the gap and bring success.
02:35And that was exactly what he was going to have to do at Liverpool, because this team
02:39could not at the time spend what the other teams were spending.
02:42And more importantly, there was this fractured relationship between them and those in the
02:47stands.
02:48And the fact that he didn't fix it all immediately, the first steps he took were absolutely massive.
02:54And this was the Liverpool XI for Jurgen Klopp's first match in charge.
02:59He took Emery Chan out of central defence and put him in the midfield, restoring them
03:03to a back full, but also giving them his sort of work rate, versatility and just presence
03:07in the middle of the pitch.
03:09He brought Philip Coutinho into the number 10 role so he could drop back and sort of
03:12get more involved with the play, giving Liverpool more control on the ball, but also allowing
03:16him to drop out wide to the flanks to help create overloads and just generally be a bit
03:19more creative.
03:20And while Adam Lallana and James Milner might feel miles away from what he eventually wanted
03:24his players on the flanks to do in this side, their involvement was actually the first clue
03:30about how this side were going to play.
03:32Between these two and Emery Chan, this Liverpool side now had in the centre of the pitch three
03:37incredibly hardworking, intelligent players whose job was to try and regain possession
03:43as soon as Liverpool lost it in their opponent's third.
03:46Like we think of counter-pressing now as a very common thing, pretty much every team
03:49has a system designed to do it in some capacity, but this was, for the Premier League at least,
03:54a relatively new development.
03:56Now there aren't too many good stats really available from this far back in Premier League
04:00history, but what you can see is that by the end of this season, this Liverpool side ran
04:05top of the league for the number of defensive duels won.
04:09And what's particularly interesting about that is all the teams around them on that
04:12metric are the scrappers at the bottom of the league who had very little of the ball
04:16and were constantly trying to win it back all over the pitch.
04:20Liverpool really focused it in the opponent's half and still did it more than anyone else.
04:24And while they did only finish 8th in the league that season, it was obvious that this
04:28was immediately effective, like Liverpool ranked 14th in the Premier League for the
04:33number of goals scored during Rodgers' brief time at the start of the season, and then
04:37ranked 2nd overall for all the games that Klopp was in charge.
04:41Like straight away, there was something happening here.
04:45Over time as well, Klopp managed to integrate Firmino into this role after Rodgers had been
04:49using him inexplicably as like a right wing back, so all of a sudden, you didn't just
04:52have these three, but you had him working back the way as well.
04:55But while you can sort of see here the building blocks of like the tactical evolution Liverpool
05:00were going on, one thing that Klopp pretty much just flicked a switch and fixed was the
05:05mentality of the club as a whole.
05:07There is a fantastic episode out right now on Walk On, which is the Athletics dedicated
05:12Liverpool podcast, where they go on this huge retrospective of his time at the club, and
05:17one thing they raised on here, which I was not aware of at all, was the defeat to Crystal
05:22Palace.
05:23This was Klopp's first defeat as Liverpool manager at a time when there was still clearly
05:26this fracturous relationship between the club and the fans, and after Palace got a late
05:31winner, the stadium just emptied.
05:34When asked about it in his press conference, Klopp was absolutely baffled that with his
05:37team chasing a one goal deficit at home, people would choose to get up and leave.
05:43He couldn't understand the mentality behind that.
05:45I think the exact words he used were, but we decide when the match is over, not the
05:49opposition.
05:50I know a lot of people around think now, oh my god, James Leaks slips through our finger
05:55again, only if we let it slip.
05:59When you look at Liverpool over the last couple of years, it seems absolutely insane that
06:02a single person in Anfield would see their side losing and think, we might not win something
06:08here.
06:09Like, big comebacks, late wins, huge goals in the depths of games became the absolute
06:14trademark of this side.
06:16And it did not take long for Klopp to show them why they should never, ever leave early.
06:22Almost certainly the most important win Klopp got in that first season was the second leg
06:26of the Europa League tie against Dortmund at Anfield.
06:29They'd acquitted themselves relatively well in the away leg, but fell behind to two early
06:33goals and after nicking one back, conceded a third and with half an hour to go, the tie
06:38looked dead.
06:40But between then and the final whistle, Jurgen Klopp managed to show everybody exactly what
06:45his Liverpool side was going to be about.
06:48On the pitch, they dug deep, they found the mentality required not to go under in this
06:52game.
06:53James Milder flying into a tackle here against Marco Reus to stop a counter attack.
06:57And on the touchline, you saw Klopp at his theatrical best.
07:00He was whipping the stadium into a frenzy, every tackle, every pass, every near miss.
07:05He was getting them involved in the game and that spurred the team on to do even more.
07:11But more important than any of that though, he identified a crucial tactical tweak he
07:15could make in game and he used that to go on and win it.
07:20Liverpool were getting way more space on the right hand side than they were on the left
07:23and Dortmund's right back was not getting any cover or support when balls came into
07:27the box.
07:28And so Daniel Sturridge, who was now up front, kept dropping off to that right hand side
07:32to create overloads with James Milder and Dejan Lovren, at set pieces and in open play,
07:37was sneaking his way all the way to that right back area to win headers.
07:42Dortmund had a let off and a warning when he volleyed over from this exact scenario
07:46late in the game, but they did not learn from it.
07:48They did not address it.
07:49Liverpool made one more chance down that right hand side.
07:52Milder crosses it to the back post and there, bullying the defender, is Dejan Lovren.
07:57And it was said at the time, it was one of Liverpool's greatest ever European nights,
08:02but it was probably the moment where it all clicked for Klopp.
08:06Clicked for Klopp?
08:07I like that.
08:08And from there, with the players buying into what he wanted to do, the fans now back on
08:12side, Jurgen Klopp went to the board and convinced them it was time to build something.
08:18Klopp dumped the 4-2-3-1 and moved to the 4-3-3 that would come to define his time at
08:24Liverpool.
08:25Joel Matip, Jorginho Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane arrived in the transfer window.
08:29A debut was given to a one young Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson began to re-establish
08:35himself in the starting 11.
08:36And while it's still a few very notable players away from being that dominant Liverpool side
08:41we think of, the building blocks were there almost instantly.
08:45And as a result, this was the first time we properly started to see that Klopp-Liverpool
08:49system.
08:50The fullbacks were very, very attacking and Emery Chan would drop deep to screen the back
08:55four.
08:56Firmino was now showing himself to be one of the best ball-playing false nines in world
08:59football.
09:00He would drop away from the front line, creating space for Coutinho and Mane to get in and
09:05attack.
09:06And then with the fullbacks pressed high, providing the majority of the width, Henderson
09:09and Wijnaldum became these two just high-energy, determined and dogged number eights.
09:15Like traditionally in a 4-3-3, you expect the two number eights to be the players attacking
09:20the half space and supporting the centre forward, but Klopp eschewed that idea.
09:24Their job was to regain possession.
09:26Their job was to cover the spaces in behind the fullbacks and win it back when Liverpool
09:30lost it in the opposition half.
09:31And while they did only finish fourth this year, the numbers they started to post were
09:35getting a little scary.
09:37They were third in the league for combined tackles and interceptions, again, surrounded
09:42exclusively in those graphs by the teams at the bottom of the league.
09:46And while they were the third highest goal scorers in the league, they actually were
09:49top for the number of actual attempts on goal.
09:52So they were creating more chances than anybody else.
09:55So you put those two things together, they are fighting and winning the ball back like
09:59a team scrapping for its life, but also creating in the final third, like potential league
10:04winners.
10:05What's really interesting about this season is while they were some way off the pace at
10:09the top of the league, I think there were nearly 20 points behind Chelsea who ended
10:12up winning it.
10:13They actually went unbeaten all season against the entire traditional top six.
10:19And I think what that told you even this early on in Klopp's reign was this was a team and
10:23a manager and a system that was going to disrupt the very top of the league just while it was
10:28still dropping points to Burnley here and there or Sunderland or Genkby or Bournemouth.
10:32It just wasn't quite the finished article.
10:34In fact, with Mane and Coutinho finishing as the top scorers that year with only 13
10:39goals each, it really did feel like all it was lacking was somebody who could just put
10:44the ball in the net a little bit more reliably.
10:47And so that very next summer, enter Juan Mo Salah, to howls of derision, to choruses of
10:53laughter from Chelsea fans telling you what a flop he was when he was there and how that
10:57was an absolute total waste of money.
10:59He took up that right sided attacking position again in the same system with Firmino dropping
11:04out to leave him a space and cover coming over from the fullback and he scored 32 goals.
11:11They added Andy Robertson from Hull City that summer and then somehow in the January window
11:15basically managed to trade Phil Coutinho plus about 25 million for Virgil van Dijk.
11:21Combine that all with the fact that Alexander-Arnold was now far more established in this side
11:25and come the start of 2018, here it was pretty much that idealised Liverpool attack in all
11:32of its glory.
11:34Now they did finish this season empty handed, which does sound bad but also doesn't really
11:37tell you the full story of it at all.
11:39They were really comfortable in the Champions League spot pretty much all season and then
11:43fell away two-fourth because they were on their way to the Champions League final with
11:48what at the time was a very thin squad.
11:51And obviously we don't need to go into details about what happened that night in Kiev but
11:54were it not for those shenanigans surrounding the goalkeeper, Liverpool looked every single
12:00inch equal of Real Madrid and they'd even put City out in the quarters to get there.
12:05And that summer the final pieces of the puzzle arrived.
12:08Emre Can was replaced by Fabinho, Lloris Karius was replaced by Alisson and all of a sudden
12:13Liverpool just had every tool they needed in their box to go and be one of the best
12:18teams in the world.
12:20And what's crazy is while we're talking about the addition of a defensive midfielder
12:23and a goalkeeper, these two signings allowed Liverpool to become the ultimate attacking
12:28force because their system before of pushing the full-back really far on, of having the
12:32two number eights float around and try and win the ball back, puts a lot of work and
12:36responsibility on the defensive midfielder and also the goalkeeper because of the high
12:42line it creates.
12:43And the reality is Fabinho and Alisson were massive upgrades in that position so Liverpool
12:47could be more reckless, they could be more forward-thinking and not concede more goals
12:52as a consequence.
12:53Like with Liverpool we're in full flow attacking, both the full-backs would be committed to
12:58it.
12:59Robertson would constantly be looking for overlaps on that side, Alexander-Arnold would
13:01be doing the same but also sort of floating quite narrowly there to get crosses into the
13:06box and that just left such a huge gaping chasm at the back which Alisson just so happily
13:12swept up into.
13:13And the thing is while when you talk about this attack it would be so easy to expunge,
13:17is that a word?
13:18I don't know if it is about how good the front three were and how Salah got into all these
13:23pockets of space, now the link-up play was excellent.
13:25The one truly innovative thing that Klopp was doing here was in Robertson and Alexander-Arnold.
13:32And purely in terms of the numbers right, this Liverpool side differed to all the other
13:35top teams in the league in sort of two regards.
13:38Like first of all they put in way, way more crosses than any of the other sides at that
13:43end of the table.
13:45And second of all their top assisters were both defenders.
13:49This first season Alexander-Arnold and Robertson were the 3rd and 5th highest assisters in
13:54the league surrounded by players like Eden Hazard, Christian Eriksen and Leroy Sane.
13:59The next season they were 2nd and 3rd behind only Kevin De Bruyne and ahead of like Silva
14:04and Son.
14:05And attacking or overlapping full-backs was not exactly a new thing, it had been going
14:08on in the Premier League forever but no team had ever really done it on both sides all
14:13the time.
14:14Even Man City that season who were obviously the most attacking team in the league had
14:18Walker and Mendy but those two combined got half as many assists as Andy Robertson.
14:24And it was at this point at Klopp's time at Liverpool where teams just did not have a
14:28clue what you were supposed to do against them.
14:30Like if you tried to force the ball out wide, well that's where the two most creative players
14:35were.
14:36If you tried to funnel them through the middle to win it back, then that's when the counter-press
14:38would kick in and as soon as you opened up, they'd play the ball into their front three.
14:42If you just tried to be hyper-defensive and lock in all the space imaginable, well Salah,
14:47Firmino and Mane were so technically good at the ball, so capable of interchanges, so
14:51capable of quick close control, they could still just sort of play through you.
14:56And then even if you decided to man Mark, it wasn't uncommon to see these triangles
15:00out wide completely rotate, like Jordan Henderson would quite often get out wide to sort of
15:05stretch the play a little bit to allow Alexander-Arnold to come inside a bit more and Salah to drop
15:09away from the forward line to receive space.
15:12There was no real clear anti-strategy for what they were doing.
15:16Anti-strategy, that's the word.
15:17And so this, undeniably, is Liverpool underclock at their absolute peak, right?
15:22Like when you think back on this team in years to come, that's the XI you're going to imagine, isn't it?
15:27Well, one of my favourite sort of anomalies in football, right, is that this XI for Liverpool
15:34actually only ever started one game together.
15:38Like genuinely, honestly, I'm not making that up.
15:41The Champions League final against Tottenham, Duncan Alexander pointed this out on Twitter
15:44and my brain fell clean out of my ear when I read it.
15:47That was the only time Liverpool ever had this XI from the start of the match.
15:52And that's because while he's undoubtedly the stars of the Klopp era, he had built so much depth
15:57in that side as well.
15:59Like Joe Gomez was there.
16:00James Milner was there.
16:01Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shedron Shaqiri, Naby Keita.
16:05Like even in the season where they went on to win the Champions League, Lovren, Sturridge
16:09and Lallana were still there and made like 15 appearances across the season.
16:14Like Klopp didn't just build this side by buying an expensive goalkeeper and buying an expensive defender.
16:20He got buy-in and he improved the players that were already on the books.
16:24He made the whole club in his image.
16:27But the thing is, it wasn't the Champions League win that really felt like the culmination of this side, was it?
16:31Like it was the Premier League win the following season.
16:34And even I, a not Liverpool fan, do think it's a massive shame we didn't get to see Klopp
16:40in a packed out Anfield raising that trophy.
16:43COVID took away what should have been the crowning achievement of this side.
16:48And by the way, if you just want any proof how important the relationship with the fans,
16:52the relationship with the crowd at Anfield was for pushing this team forward,
16:57just look at the season they had before we went into lockdown and look at it after.
17:02In the 28 games before COVID hit, Liverpool had dropped four points all season.
17:08Like they were on to break every single record imaginable.
17:13And then when football came back and there was no crowd, they got hammered 4-0 off City.
17:18They dropped points at Burnley.
17:20They only won six out of the last 10 matches and spluttered over the finish line.
17:24Still, still with an improbable points total.
17:28And maybe it's not really my place to say this not being a Liverpool fan,
17:31but when I think about this team, it's not the year they won the league that I'm going to remember.
17:36It's the year before that when they didn't.
17:38To somehow get 97 points and still not win the league is something that can only happen in this reality
17:42where Pap Guardiola for some reason exists, right?
17:45But I just want to take you to the one game they lost all season, away at City themselves.
17:52This now infamous goal line scramble was this close to going in that net.
17:58And if it had done, if it had just been that much further over,
18:01Liverpool wouldn't just have won the league that season.
18:04They would have done so as Centurions with over 100 points
18:08and they would have done so as Invincibles, not having lost in the entire campaign.
18:13If they had done that, and remember we're only talking about literally a fraction of a centimetre from that happening,
18:19then I think you genuinely can start having the conversation about greatest ever Premier League team,
18:25not just one of the greats.
18:27And that for me is how I'll remember this Jurgen Klopp team.
18:31Like this close to being considered the greatest ever.
18:35Like don't get me wrong, the success they had, all the same,
18:38they won the league, they won the championship, they won everything.
18:40That is still amazing.
18:41But it just feels like as the years roll on,
18:44his place in that conversation just won't ever be where it really should be because of that.
18:50Now you might be sitting there quite correctly thinking that's not the whole story, Alan.
18:54You've not talked about Trent Alexander-Arnold inverting into the midfield
18:58or the big fire sale and rebuild they've done this season.
19:01And you are right.
19:02But this point in the story is where we launched 442, the YouTube channel.
19:06So if you want to learn about all that, there's dedicated videos that go into it on a match by match basis.
19:11What a salesman.
19:12And of course, as we said at the start, this is the end of the Jurgen Klopp era
19:15and we now move into the Arnie Slott era.
19:18And if you want some coverage of that, that'll be just as good.
19:21If not better than this, then please do consider subscribing to us here on 442
19:24because they've been one of the most interesting tactical teams in the world in the last couple of years.
19:30And I don't think for all the things that will change, that will be one of them.
19:33In the meantime, you can get me on any social media you like.
19:36At Adam Cleary, C-L-E-R-Y, the 4.2 social in the corner of the video.
19:39The latest issue of the mag is the Euros issue.
19:42Is that the right word?
19:43Oh, no, it's the Euros issue.
19:44It's available in all good retailers now.
19:46And of course, the crap ones as well.
19:47It comes with a free Euros guide and a wall chart if you are deep down a nine year old like me.
19:53Anyway, until next time, there is an old Dr.
19:56Zeus quote that I like to just add a little bit onto the end of times such as these.
20:01Right. And and the quote is, don't be sad that it's over.
20:04Just be happy that it happened.
20:06And the bit I like to add on at the end is, f*** off Dr. Zeus.
20:11Goodbye.