Jürgen Klopp

The route from Germany

Klopp came from Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, where he had built an intense pressing style and challenged Bayern Munich’s domestic dominance. Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund teams had won two Bundesliga titles and reached a Champions League final through intense counter-pressing and a powerful collective identity. He took over Liverpool in October 2015, inheriting a talented but inconsistent squad and a support longing for a renewed sense of direction. ^[1]

Klopp arrived with a style and a language that suited the club’s emotional identity. His best teams combined pressing, fast transitions and a connection between supporters and players that became a competitive asset rather than mere atmosphere.

Klopp’s best contribution was to make Liverpool feel coherent again. The football was intense, but its appeal was not only tactical; it created a visible relationship between players, crowd and club identity. Early finals built belief, then the Champions League win in 2019 and league title in 2020 converted belief into the highest level of achievement.

From believers to winners

He won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, restoring Liverpool as English champions in 2019–20. The Champions League win in 2019 was followed by the 2019–20 league title, Liverpool’s first in 30 years, with a club-record 99 points. Later domestic cups in 2022 and another League Cup in 2024 showed that the team could regenerate even after the peak years of the original front three. ^[2]

His reign had periods of pressure—notably injury crises and the pandemic era—but controversies were generally less important than the public bond he forged with supporters. The COVID-19 period, a central-defence injury crisis in 2020–21 and intense fixture demands tested the project’s resilience. Klopp’s lasting contribution was as cultural as tactical: he joined players, staff and supporters around an energetic, emotionally open idea of what Liverpool could be. Klopp’s nine years require the fullest modern assessment. The Champions League and the long-awaited league title were supplemented by every major domestic and global club honour, but the achievement was also cultural: he rebuilt belief, created an elite playing identity and navigated injuries, pandemic disruption and squad renewal without lowering the club’s ambition.

The major achievement was not one trophy but the construction of a sustainable elite side. His departure was unusually clear: he announced it in advance and framed it as a question of energy, allowing the club to prepare a deliberate succession.

The later years were not a simple victory lap. Injuries, the pandemic, squad renewal and the pressure of competing with Manchester City required adaptation. Klopp’s decision to announce his exit early was unusually transparent. It gave supporters time to respond and gave Liverpool a chance to plan succession rather than react in crisis.

Choosing to step away

Klopp announced in January 2024 that he would leave at the end of the season, explaining that he was running out of energy for the demands of the role. The announcement gave the club months to plan an orderly succession rather than forcing a hurried change. He left after the 2023–24 season having restored major honours, Champions League regularity and a level of belief that became the benchmark for his successor.