The 48-year-old can lift a trophy in a shorter space of time than any manager in Liverpool's history on Sunday, while fulfilling part one of his blueprint for the club
It was the final Sunday in February four years ago when Liverpool last lifted a trophy. On the final Sunday of February this year, they have the opportunity to win the League Cup again if they can overcome Manchester City under Wembley’s majestic arch.
From that 2012 triumph, only Jordan Henderson, Martin Skrtel and Jose Enrique remain out of the matchday squad. Kenny Dalglish was in the dugout for the penalty shootout win over Cardiff City, but was let go three months after the triumph. 15 days after his departure, Brendan Rodgers was appointed Reds boss, but it is now Jurgen Klopp who occupies the manager’s office at Melwood.
It was hoped that League Cup win would galvanise the club and inspire them to greater heights, but it has been largely chop and change for Liverpool since then with little to cheer. Klopp is determined to alter that, and should the Reds secure silverware on Sunday, there is a feeling within their training base that such scenes won’t be a one-off, but the first crucial step in fulfilling the German’s blueprint.
In his first interview after being appointed by Fenway Sports Group, Klopp was asked what he’d like to achieve short-term and over a longer period at Liverpool. His answer was simple and immediate: “Success.”
After just over four months in the job, the German has the opportunity to achieve a sample of that success, following the club’s four-year drought. And should his charges get soaked in champagne after the final whistle on Sunday, Klopp would’ve secured a trophy faster than any manager in Liverpool’s 124-year history.
“A lot of players and managers work their whole life and can be really successful but don't have the chance to win anything, that's how it is sometimes,” he said.
“After a very short time, we have the chance. I'm sure you will see in the game that we really want to win this.”
While Liverpool may be inconsistent this season, Klopp has held onto a consistent vision, not just on Merseyside, but at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund as well. His first task at all three was to create a sense of oneness while elevating faith in the club. When asked this week about the most crucial components Klopp has introduced at Liverpool, captain Henderson responded: “togetherness and belief.” That is by design.
Steven Gerrard described the manager as “the extra element which will make the difference” at Wembley, and while the 48-year-old joked that he paid the former skipper £100 to say that, there is no doubt over that statement among those hoping they’ll be selected for the matchday squad. Beyond that, those who know the manager well from Germany agree too.
Silke Bannick, the press officer of Mainz, who met Klopp over 10 years ago and worked him closely at the Bundesliga club, explained: “He is authentic and he lives and breathes football. With Jurgen, it is clear to see he does everything with his whole heart and fans, players and everyone can buy into that. At Mainz, people looked at him and thought, ‘here’s a man we can trust, because look how badly he wants success, he gives everything for it, he works so hard for it.’ It was the same at Dortmund and it will be the same at Liverpool because that is Jurgen.
“He is not one of those people who talk the big talk and then do nothing. He gives his all and the players learn to follow that. When he went to Dortmund, he still had the support of Mainz. Now at Liverpool, he has the support of both. There are many, many people who want Jurgen to do well, but the biggest one is himself because that means his club is doing well."
Klopp has admitted he is “greedy for success” and those who have worn the Red shirt in the past, like John Barnes, and those who do so presently, like Emre Can, have stressed the importance of having that kind of mentality flood through the club.
Nothing in football can solidify belief in a process like winning and few managers in the game can transmit just how much they want victory onto their players like Klopp.
That belief was tangible at Melwood on Friday, marking a departure from the darkness that seemed to descend upon the place following Liverpool’s first game in the League Cup this season. That third-round win against Carlisle on penalties in September signalled the end for Rodgers. The air of inevitability swirled thick and heavy at Anfield that night as the hosts fielded £130 million worth of talent against the League Two outfit, but it was hard to tell which side played in which division.
There was a hat-trick of boos from the terraces during the game and, despite progressing in the competition, there was an overwhelming feeling that while Liverpool were in the next stage, the Northern Irishman wouldn’t be. And he wasn’t; with Klopp in the dugout for the fourth-round tie against Bournemouth.
Liverpool now head to Wembley - or ‘Anfield South’ as the stadium is termed by the club’s supporters given their 18 wins on its turf, and regardless of the result on Sunday, the German’s reconstruction has already produced big victories. It may not always reflect in the performances or on the scoreboard, but you can’t miss it in a snapshot of then and now.
Klopp has made it clear that triumph on Sunday is not the cure-all for the Reds and that defeat shouldn’t diminish the work they’ve done and will continue to do.
But he also knows “the worst thing is if you go to a final and lose it. Everyone says, ‘You were so close!’ Rubbish! I can’t take it.” Neither can Liverpool supporters.
There have been too many moments over the past four years - the 2012 FA Cup loss to Chelsea, the two semi-final exits last season, the title tilt of 2013-14 - to prove to them that almost doesn’t count. The players know it too as several of them have lived those disappointments on loop.
Klopp’s message to his squad has been uncomplicated: “Take what you can get when you’re there. Beat them when you meet them.” He said his job is to now make sure there is "no misunderstanding from my mouth to the ears of my players” as they implement a plan to oust City.
The 4-1 win over Manuel Pellegrini’s men at the Etihad in November has been the defining game of Klopp’s reign thus far, and while he admitted Liverpool’s tactical approach will be different at Wembley, he’ll be plotting for the same result.
- Goal