Jurgen Klopp Anfield legacy: A journey through quotes
Jurgen Klopp will call it a day this weekend after nine glorious years at Liverpool, and he leaves behind a legacy to celebrate, follow, and sign about for generations to come. His time with the Merseyside Reds contained some unforgettable highs and experiences that this generation of Liverpool supporters will talk about with their kids and grandkids.
While this is an intimate and emotional day for fans who bleed Liverpool Red across the globe, we will take this opportunity to dive into some of his incredible and indelible quotes from his years as the head coach of the club.
1. October 2015: Liverpool announce Klopp – First Peep
Liverpool are in the current position owing to the decision they took nine years ago, and this one is a real feather in the hat for Fenway Sports Group as they managed to sign Jurgen Klopp. It is time for first impressions, as the German coach signed a three-year contract at the city’s Hope Street hotel, and you could sense greatness in his first words as a Liverpool manager.
“The message to those Liverpool supporters?” Klopp asks, rhetorically in his first interview. “We have to change, from doubter to believer. Now.”
This shows the massive cultural change that the Reds have gone through under the former Dortmund coach, and, well, certainly, we are now more believers than doubters.
2. April 2016: YNWA derby
Jurgen Klopp returned to his former club Borussia Dortmund for the first time as manager of Liverpool, and it is quite a big deal as the German is highly celebrated by the BVB fans. It was a big occasion as well, the Europa League quarterfinal at Signal Iduna Park, and German broadcaster Sport1 planned a manager cam to follow the German coach all game; they called it “Klopp Cam” for self-explanatory reasons.
When asked about Klopp cam, the Liverpool coach’s answer was quite what you’d expect off him:
“You see how crazy the world is?” If someone is silly enough to want to see my face for 90 minutes during a game, I cannot change the world. I can’t believe it is like this. But if it is true, I have to think about whether I will really talk with this television station in my life again. I’m pretty sure I will not, if I don’t have to.”
3. July 2017: The Salah ecstasy
Mohamed Salah is a legend at Liverpool; he is the single greatest player that the Reds have seen in the past decade, and his legacy at Anfield Stadium is going to be talked about for decades to come. However, Jurgen Klopp knew the player that Salah was going to become all along.
When Liverpool signed Salah in July 2017, Klopp said:
“We played against him when he was at Basel and we didn’t know him. We played with Dortmund against him and it was ‘What the f*ck?!'”
4. May 2018: European Nights
Jurgen Klopp got his first taste of nearing European glory with Liverpool as they reached their first Champions League final under the German gaffer in 2017/18 before losing in Kyiv to Real Madrid. The Liverpool boss spoke about the Anfield impression on the European nights:
“Going to the final, we all enjoyed these moments together,” Klopp said in May 2018.
“The home crowd was really good and European nights [are] special. If you had Wikipedia or Google and put in ‘European nights’ the answer must be Anfield. That’s really cool, being [a] part of that. And even at the away games it was outstanding.”
We have seen the Kop play an important role in all European nights ever since.
5. May 2019: A night to remember
One game stands out in his nine years as a Liverpool manager: May 7, 2019, when Liverpool pulled out four goals at Anfield Stadium against Barcelona. An unforgettable night. It is still one of the greatest comebacks we have seen in the Champions League for a long time. The Liverpool gaffer could not contain his excitement following the win, as he came through with some swears in his post-match interview:
“It’s ten past 10. Most of the children are probably already in bed… So, these boys are f*cking mentality giants! It’s unbelievable! Fine me if you want, but I don’t have better words for it!”
6. February 2020: Love at first sight
Klopp and Liverpool fit each other like that last piece of jigsaw puzzle, and that is what the German gaffer insists on while speaking about the Reds’ interest in 2015. In 2020, the former Dortmund boss revealed how Liverpool always felt right in his heart and compared it to meeting his wife:
“There was a lot of interest,” Jurgen said in February 2020. “I had to make a holiday first. I heard from my agent that Liverpool is interested and I felt immediately, ‘Oh god’. It’s like when I met my wife. I saw her and thought, ‘Okay, I marry her’, and it was like that with the club. It felt right from the first moment.”
7. May 2022 Brain-What?
Jurgen Klopp had a hilarious misunderstanding in one of his press conferences ahead of a game against Newcastle United. This one is for the classics:
JK: “Why can everybody say the word but if I say it, then it’s not okay?”
Press Officer: “Which word?”
JK: “Brain-f*ck!”
Press Officer: “No, brain-fog!”
JK: “Ah, okay, it sounds exactly the same in my head, to be honest!”
9. December 2023: Emotions
Jurgen Klopp wears his sleeves on his heart, and he showed why everyone at Liverpool loves him when he gave young fan Dáire Gorman a tour around the club’s training ground. He said:
“You can’t imagine how much I enjoyed [this meeting] because this club is all about the people who support it, and you are one of the most special. I am, like you, very close to crying. Life without emotions, imagine that, how boring would it be! So, you might think this was fantastic for you, but it was fantastic for me too. Thank you very much!”
This is exactly what Klopp is about, and as he is, I am close to crying as well.
10. May 2024: Believers again
In his last press conference, Klopp made a full circle as he spoke about the club.
“I didn’t make them believe. I reminded them that it helps when you believe.”
This is quite similar to what he said when he first walked through the doors, just in a different tone and analogy. He has certainly had a full circle at Liverpool.
