Football News: The Klopp Factor Lifts Liverpool

Image from: internationalsoccerteams.com

So the dream has become reality, Jurgen Klopp is the new manager of Liverpool and everyone is sitting up and taking notice of the club for the right reasons for the first time in years. The Klopp for the Kop campaign might not have been the cause, but it has been justified as the German has come to stand in front of the Kop and once again hear You'll Never Walk Alone belted out from the fans, as he did in his first management job with Mainz 05. It is safe to say that his arrival has met with complete and unadulterated joy from those fans, who had lost faith this season and begun to turn due to the performances they were forced to witness on the pitch.

Where the atmosphere around the club was one of dejection, as the club was quickly turning into a team of 'outstanding character', sadly the character was more Keystone Cop than anything else. Now the excitement around the club is massive, it is spreading throughout the world, as sports channels are devoting huge amounts of airtime to Klopp and, by extension, Liverpool FC, even in places such as the Middle East region. How many other initial press conferences to present a new manager have received such worldwide coverage as Klopp's?

That press conference was a huge success, even if it has meant he will be forever known by the British media as the 'Normal One', the impression gained was one of a highly intelligent but humble man with a massive amount of charisma. Watching him hold a roomful of British journalists in the palm of his hand, as they all fawned over him, was a real treat, following the previous few regimes struggles in that area. I hate to say this, even though I have mentioned it in the past on the Liverpool-rumours site, but Jurgen Klopp is the closest I have seen in my lifetime to the legend that was Bill Shankly.

A proven winner, charisma in spades, beloved by his previous clubs and players who have played under him, Klopp's the breath of fresh air that is needed, not just for Liverpool, but also for the whole of English football, which was in danger of becoming stale. Already changes have begun with Klopp watching the U18 team play, unlike his predecessor, who seemed to think youth teams were irrelevant. Another major change, other than bringing in his own assistant manager and first team coach, is that the head of opposition analysis has been sacked.

It is hard to understand how the it has taken so long for the head of opposition analysis to be sacked, as he was clearly utterly incapable of doing his job. When so many changes were made to the backroom staff over the summer, how did the utterly incompetent keep his job, while the mildly incompetent were sent packing? Actually that does beg the question as to what the future holds for John Achteberg, the Liverpool goalkeeping coach, who is also amongst the incompetent ones who survived the summer cull, for no fathomable reason.

The hope is that Klopp will be able to see what is blatantly obvious, though has so far managed to escape the notice of a number of managers and FSG itself, and a replacement will be brought in for Achteberg. The biggest worry of the near future will be managing expectations, with the club shop selling 'Normal One' t-shirts and hats by the shedload, the hype surrounding Klopp's arrival has been immense, but it remains to be seen if the crowd will have patience if things start slowly. You would expect them to do so, as they have clearly bought in to the Klopp era in a big way, but people will need to remember he is not the messiah, he is just an excellent manager and he has a huge job on his hands.

Liverpool is a club in a shambolic state currently, with a playing staff that has been expensively assembled but with absolutely no thought behind the process. Huge numbers of players have been bought in the Rodgers' era, most of them to replace the players he bought the previous season, rather than to fix the glaring weaknesses within the squad. There is a stockpile of attacking midfielders that could kit out half of the Premier League and still not leave room for the youth to break through!

No matter how good Klopp truly is, he can only work with the tools at hand, and even a master craftsman will struggle to create a masterpiece if he has the wrong tools at his disposal. One thing is for sure, the press conferences and pre and post match interviews will no longer be something to avoided, now they will be eminently watchable with a very real outstanding character in charge.

Written by Tris Burke October 10 2015 14:32:45