Believe Us. Melissa Reddy
and toxicity that marked the previous months were swept away by a groundswell of optimism.
There were three days between Rodgers’ sacking and the confirmation of Klopp’s appointment, which blitzed past in a blur. Klopp and Ulla had a flood of admin to take care of in a limited window, leaving little space to think about the job itself. ‘We left a country and our lives there behind, if you want, so we had to organise a few things,’ he explained. ‘It was quite busy those few days, quite busy, and it was not a lot about football.’
Knowing the importance of supplying the right message from the off, Klopp downloaded a language app to ensure his communication in English was effective enough. If he was hoping for some quiet time to work on his opening gambits to the press, Liverpool’s staff and his new players when he arrived on Merseyside, that plan was quickly stifled even before his departure from Germany.
A German television reporter buzzed Klopp’s home hoping to snatch an exclusive interview via the intercom on 8 October and he wasn’t disappointed. The broadcaster got one short sentence — ‘from tomorrow, I will be a Liverpool man 24/7’ — but that soundbite rippled across the world, with social media going into overdrive. Every bit of Klopp’s journey from his home in Germany to Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport was tracked, with the path of the private plane that was carrying him, his family and coaching assistants from Dortmund to Merseyside monitored in its entirety by over 35,000 people on Flightradar24.
As afternoon turned to evening, the roads leading to Liverpool’s Hope Street Hotel were swarming with supporters waiting to welcome him. ‘A party atmosphere’ is how Klopp recalls it and while he was pleased with the reception, it was no fun having his privacy impeded by the paparazzi who also stationed themselves close to the boutique accommodation used by Liverpool ahead of home matches.
As he settled into the Rooftop Suite, Klopp could hear the sound of shutters and see the flashes of light but couldn’t understand how it was possible for the photographers to get pictures into his room given it was so high up. Venturing out onto the private terrace, Klopp got his answer: they had made their way up adjacent buildings, hanging off the awnings to get their shot. He couldn’t understand it: he was just a football manager about to take charge of a new club. Granted, it was one of the biggest and most historic football clubs in the game, but he couldn’t fathom the fuss.
This was not just any managerial appointment though. It felt more symbolic. More than the start of a new tenure, the universal approval of Klopp offered a chance to unify the club, which would be imperative for success.
He was framed as a saviour, and in the hotel within walking distance of Liverpool’s two cathedrals, he signed a three-year contract worth £7 million per season. The inking of the agreement took place in the hotel’s Sixth Boardroom, with the steel outline of the new Main Stand at Anfield visible in the distance.
Klopp’s task extended beyond an on-pitch regeneration; he would need to oversee advancement off it too. While FSG were in no doubt he was the perfect fit to achieve that, the length of the deal — eschewing the usual five-year term — was rooted in realism rather than romanticism. Klopp had never lived outside of Germany, let alone managed in a different country or at a club as demanding and unforgiving as Liverpool. He was conscious of Ulla needing to settle and her happiness on Merseyside. It was a big adjustment on an individual level for both of them but also for their marriage.
The official announcement of Klopp’s signing was made by Liverpool at 9 pm, but by then the new manager was at an introductory dinner with Melwood staff. The expectation was that it was his chance to lay down the law and spell out his requirements for how things would work at the training ground going forward. Instead, it was the complete opposite.
‘The gaffer asked us to explain how things are, what we do, what he needed to learn,’ goalkeeper coach John Achterberg, who has been at the club since 2009, remembers. ‘He wanted to know more about us and how our departments worked and he listened to us. He asked us about the league, about rules, training schedules, how matchdays went. It was a good talk that showed us immediately that the gaffer was a team player. He didn’t come in with the attitude that he knew everything. He told us the club could only achieve our ambitions if we did it all together and with the highest standards.’
Later that evening, Klopp toasted his new life with Ulla, their sons Marc and Dennis and his long-term assistant Peter Krawietz at The Old Blind School bar and restaurant. As the pints flowed, so too did the pictures and requests for autographs. His disguise of a cap and black hoodie was certainly not enough to mask the identity of the most popular man in Liverpool.
If the full scale of excitement around his appointment didn’t dawn on Klopp yet, it would the next morning at his unveiling. Press from around the globe packed into the Reds Lounge at Anfield, with no place to stand let alone sit. A sea of cameras dominated the back section of the room, while photographers lay in the aisles and sprawled in front of the top table.
Considering the absence of preparation time as well as the fact he had to deliver his messaging in a second language, it was staggering how surgically and effectively Klopp addressed all his key constituents. He told his new Liverpool ‘family’ there was no need to pull together big speeches — if he believed in what he was saying, so too would the people he needed to.
The first important group to address was the players and as the media attempted to extract negativity about the squad he inherited, he countered, ‘I’m here because I believe in the potential of the team. I’m not a dream man, I don’t want to have Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi and all these players in one team. I want this squad, it was a decision for these guys. Now we start working.’
The recruitment staff that struggled to share common ground with Brendan Rodgers were relieved to hear Klopp shut down talk of trouble with transfer decisions being made collaboratively. ‘If two smart, intelligent, clever guys sit together on a table and you both want the same, where can be the problem? We all want to be successful,’ he said. ‘I’m not a genius, I don’t know more than the rest of the world, I need other people to get me perfect information and when we get this we will sign a player or sell a player.’
Klopp took aim at the British press too, imploring them not to portray him as a messianic figure. ‘Does anyone in this room think that I can do wonders?’ he asked before answering, ‘I’m a normal guy from the Black Forest. I’m the normal one. I hope to enjoy my work. Everyone has told me about the British press. It’s up to you to show me they are all liars!’
The most significant point of his opening press conference was targeted at everyone associated with Liverpool including the supporters. ‘History is only the base for us,’ Klopp said. ‘It is all the people are interested in, but you don’t take history in your backpack and carry it with you for 25 years. We have to change from doubters to believers. We can write a new story if we want.’
Those final two lines were simplistic, but that was by design. It was vital that the message was clear, easy to digest and share. The club’s silverware-lined history and the weight of expectation to deliver the league title had become a noose for previous managers. Klopp walked in and signalled his spell would not be dictated by it, which was different.
Adam Lallana remembers a few of the players watching the unveiling and being blown away by his courage to immediately tackle the ‘weight of the badge, the weight of history, the weight of waiting so long for the title’. He labelled it a ‘chest out’ moment for the group.
‘The gaffer could just see that pressure on everyone’s shoulders and that’s probably what shocked him the most when he first met everyone at the club, especially the players,’ Lallana says. ‘What was great and helped lift it is that he wasn’t just talking to us about that. He spoke to the media about that from day one. There would be games that I’d see him turn around in the dugout, screaming at fans saying, “Why the hell are you having a go? What are you complaining for?” He’d be correcting the behaviour of fans to be more supportive while the game was going on and — just wow! As players, it was huge to see that and there was a collective feeling of, “Oh my god, he’s got all our backs.” We could tell from the beginning we got in just the kind of personality that