Squad Numbers

That night at Anfield, what was seemingly impossible, became the reality. It was inconceivable to even fathom the prospect of Liverpool overcoming a first leg 3-0 loss to Barcelona to reach the champions league final, yet they did. From the first minute that night, until the very last, they were onto them, pressing with the full might of the city behind them . It was a night which epitomised Klopp’s Liverpool.

Klopp cultivated a city, brought everyone together. His ideologies not only about football but about management as a whole shone through throughout his reign, a rock and roll style of football connected the people to the team, made them feel as if each and every single one of their players would die for them, with an eminent sense of unselfishness ringing out throughout the team. This was reflected by Klopp himself, who never once showed a sense of arrogance, never said that he was better than anyone else. He was someone that you could relate to, the “normal one” as he dubbed himself upon his arrival in 2015, and this has rung true throughout his rein. Whilst his customary fist pumps in front of the Kop have become something of a joke, and slightly overdone, they do symbolise what Klopp is all about, he loves the club, and they love him. He is and has been a father figure.

Of course, results help. It is much harder to bring a city together and create that incredible feeling around an organisation if there aren’t results. As Steve Archibald once said: “team spirit is an illusion glimpsed in the aftermath of victory.” And boy has Klopp delivered results. A first Premier League for 30 years, a Champions League win (and two other finals to go with it), an FA Cup win, a Carabao cup win, Super Cup win, a club world cup win and a Community Shield win. Granted, some of those achievements mean more than others, but with the remainder of this season still to come, Klopp could add to this list. If Liverpool win the Europa league this season, which is a fairly realistic proposition, Liverpool would have won every competition that they have ever entered at least once under Klopp. Pretty good isn’t it.

All of this culminates to the conclusion that replacing Klopp is an impossible job. Whoever goes in there, will have to attempt to replicate the unprecedented success of Klopp, which Liverpool had not had for decades before his arrival. Don’t get me wrong, Liverpool have an amazing group of players, they are not the issue and this current squad are capable of competing for every trophy out there, but it won’t be the same. No manager can come in and replicate the feeling that Klopp gave to the club, the countless moments of madness, beauty and drama. For any new manager, getting the fans onside is the single most important task that you have, and whilst the new manager might be perfectly fine, they won’t be Klopp. The fans may have good moments with this new manager, but the feeling won’t quite be there. And when things go wrong, they will turn, more out of frustration that they don’t have enigmatic feeling of trust towards the man in charge anymore.

Whether it’s Xabi Alonso, or anyone else, whoever takes over at Liverpool should understand that for them to be a success, they have to win everything, be the perfect man manager, never have a player seem unhappy, have the perfect connection with a set of fans who are oh so passionate about their club and deal with all the usual details of managing a football club.

Good Luck.