Dear Jurgen,
It was sometime around in October. Must have been a Sunday. Could have been a Monday. I don’t remember very clearly. It wasn’t very special anyway. A friend of mine texted me, “Dude, Brendan has been sacked.” I couldn’t come up with an adequately animated response. No joy, No gut-wrenching heartbreak, no violent emotions whatsoever.
But then, that is what Brendan was like. In the week that followed, we kept being linked with you. I did not pay much heed to those rumours. They seemed too good to be true! As a prank that same friend sent me a text message saying, “Dude, we’ve appointed Allardyce.” I flipped out, googled it and then finally sank into my bed a relieved man.
Imagine my joy the day they announced you’d be taking over duties from Brendan! I was over the moon! I couldn’t sleep that night! I was feeling a rush! I could feel it that this is going to be special! That was the beginning of this joyful, amazing, horrible at times and eventually heartbreaking ride. By the end of it, we were all tattered and bruised and tired, but man o man, what a ride it has been!
From the game against West Brom where you led the boys hand in hand to our fans to your wild gesturing on the touchline, watching football was fun again! And now we the Anfield faithful can say – In Klopp We Trust.
Turning doubters to believers
When you arrived in Liverpool you spoke of turning the fans from ‘doubters to believers’. You wanted to turn the negative energy that surrounded the club into positivity and optimism. In this regard, you have so far been a mighty success. We feel relevant in the world of football once again. You have only been here for a matter of months and you have already won us over.
But the important thing is that there has been a connection between the manager and the fans. Your biggest test is to unite us. This is no easy task. We’ve been a group at war with ourselves for far too long, going back to the Rafa fallout. And you are doing the right thing.
We want to see the passion. We want to see you launch your frame into the sky with your fists pumping ten to the dozen. We want to see you on the pitch at the end, hugging the boys. We want to see you grinning inanely at the Kop when the game is over.
It helps that the person sitting in the front row of the Kop, the sweeper and the manager feel the same! You represent the club perfectly! It feels that you have been just picked up from the Kop and asked to manage the team! You are a people’s manager! And I would like to express my gratitude! Thank you so much!
We can see the difference on the pitch
There’s a difference. Few defeats. More goals scored. Added fight in the players. There’s a difference in the character shown by the players under you.
The Reds under you ran riot against Manchester City, both at home and away, and dismantled Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They beat Manchester United in Europe when the pressure was really on. They followed up that victory with memorable turnarounds against Dortmund, who were arguably the most in-form side in the Europa League at the time, and Villarreal, a side who finished 4th in La Liga with relative ease.
Dejan Lovren’s recent performances have been of the highest level, and his frequent errors that we saw in his debut season are long gone as you have restored his self-belief. Our attacking trio of Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana are a wonderful mix of flair, creativity, and hard work. All three possess wonderful technical ability but more importantly all are willing to buy into your pressing game.
And what do I say about Divock Origi? What a progress the Belgian has made! At the start of the season, we saw a young, fast, but raw centre-forward who oozed potential. What we have now is a strong, fit, all round goal-scorer. The credit must go to you, who has nurtured him, and he may now be our No.1 striker.
You have given the team more structure in the way you set them up. They understand the expectations you have for them because they’re not constantly asked to play in unfamiliar roles or untested formations. You seemed to get the best out of the players by putting them in positions to succeed and playing to their strengths, which was something Brendan often struggled to do.
What you see now is a completely different Reds side altogether, with belief flowing through the veins of the players and a never-say-die attitude becoming increasingly apparent. This is solely down to your management and attitude, with consistent late goals something that only the very best can seemingly master. The season-defining 4-3 win at home to Borussia Dortmund was the biggest sign yet of how you have reinvigorated this side.
To come back from 3-1 down against a side of such quality is a remarkable feat, and is something that was simply unthinkable under previous managers. A football match was won, an incredible comeback achieved, but what they did against Borussia Dortmund was for a wider cause, to remind me and others of why we keep doing this supporting thing. Under you the players are backing themselves in big situations and the Anfield crowd, on the whole, is staying until the final minute because of this change in mentality.
It is also worth stressing how effective your substitutes have been. Benteke, for all his shortcomings for Liverpool this season, has scored more goals from the bench than any other Premier League player in 2015/16 (with six), and he also has the joint-most assists (two). Once again this is no fluke, with you ensuring every single player truly believes they can make a difference, even in a cameo role.
Such a turnaround occurred whilst we were in the midst of an injury crisis.I can’t recall if you had the opportunity to name what many would say is your strongest squad once last season. At one stage or another Liverpool were without Dejan Lovren, Mamadou Sakho, Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, Joe Allen, Christian Benteke, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings, Divock Origi and Adam Lallana
This is a Liverpool team going places under you, and while they are still far from the finished article, the future looks extremely bright.
We’ve reached two cup finals in your first season in charge, with a relatively limited squad that you inherited from another manager. With your own players brought in and a summer of pre-season to further stamp your authority, the Reds will be a real force next season. It is once again an exciting time to be a Liverpool fan, as we can see the progress of the players on the pitch.
The Kop trusts Klopp
The squad needs changes. No doubt about that. That night in Basel proved that this squad is not good enough. It has too many 6s and very few 8s or 9s, quality wise. But we have a man with a plan. You know what you want. You know what the fans want. Your brand of football demands a certain type of player. You are already moving the pieces into place, courting those players that can keep this team well-oiled and purring, or roaring as the case may more likely be.
While many will no doubt be dreaming of seeing some world-class players arrive at Anfield this summer, I know that is simply not your style. Whatever you do, we completely trust you. I am sure that you will create more Gotzes and Lewandowskis and prepare a squad of players capable of doing exactly what you ask of them, both in terms of system and style.
You are exactly the man we needed! You are the ‘normal one’ as you sit alongside the players as their partner in performance and alongside the fans as someone who recognises football as an emotional sport. We’ll always have Istanbul. But we should have had more. And I know that you are the manager that can give us such moments. You have made watching the match a thing of joy again.
We’re all in this together again. You represent us on the bench, kicking every ball and diving into every tackle. If anything, the next few seasons should be a laugh. And for that, I thank you Jurgen. Thank you for making me feel again. Thank you for making me dream again. Thank you for making me believe again. Thank you, Jurgen. We are in this together.
And whatever happens, I assure you one thing, that You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Regards,
A Liverpool fan.
