Six years on from being announced as Liverpool's manager, it's fair to say Jurgen Klopp has made quite the mark on English football.
With the Reds languishing in 10th in the Premier League way back in October 2015, and Brendan Rodgers struggling to return Liverpool back to the glory days of old after three and a half years in charge, change was much needed.
Step forward Klopp, the charismatic German who had propelled Borussia Dortmund from mid-table Bundesliga mediocrity to one of Europe’s most exciting attacking forces during his seven-year trophy-laden spell at the club.
Fresh from a four-month sabbatical, Klopp was then unveiled as the next man tasked with ending Liverpool’s 25-year wait for an elusive league title.
And he didn’t disappoint. Six years on from his appointment, we take a closer at the German boss’ very first press conference and assess how many of those early promises he managed to keep...
1. Not being an “idiot” when it comes to transfers
"It’s a crazy discussion. It was not a problem for 10 seconds. I’m not an idiot. It’s enough that I have the first and the last word - in the middle we can discuss.
"We want to discuss good players on the highest level. I’m not a genius. I need other people to get the perfect information. When we have this we will decide to sign or sell a player."
From the outset, Klopp’s philosophy was to delay player transfers in order to fully assess his new squad but this all changed by the end of his first season in charge.
Final defeats in both the League Cup and Europa League highlighted the need for new faces to elevate the Reds to the next level, and a 2016 summer overhaul saw the inspired signings of Sadio Mane, Joel Matip and Georginio Wijnaldum.
With a return to the Premier League top four and the lucrative prospect of Champions League football secured at the end of a first full season in charge, Klopp’s Liverpool didn’t look back.
Mohammed Salah joined in the summer of 2017, alongside Andy Robertson, before Klopp splashed out £75 million on record-signing Virgil Van Dijk and snapped up Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker on his way to establishing one of the most imperious squads in all of Europe.
Certainly not the work of an idiot, but perhaps a genius after all.
2. The Normal One
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"Does anyone in this room think that I can do wonders? I’m a normal guy from the Black Forest. My mother is very proud. I am the normal one. I was a very average player and became a trainer in Germany with a special club."
Move over Mourinho, a new managerial mastermind was in town.
In a pointed parody to Jose’s iconic self-branding as ‘The Special One’ upon his own Premier League arrival back in 2004, Klopp played down his tag of Liverpool’s new messiah, labelling himself ‘The Normal One’.
However, over the course of his six years in charge at the Anfield club, Klopp has proven that he is anything but.
Having delivered Champions League success and a first Liverpool league title in 30 years (more on those later), the German manager has established himself as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats. Now that’s special.
3. Restarting the style of football
"I’m not here to talk too much about the football. I want to talk to the team first. Everyone knows me. It’s emotion, speed. It’s a transition game so you will see this. All the things that make football interesting I want to see.
We have to make points and win games. I don’t want to promise a style of football. I promised full-throttle football in Dortmund. It would be really nice if there’s no photos in the hotel. It would be nice if we concentrate on football from 11am onwards.
We will try to play very emotional football. All the world is talking about ball possession, but we have to have a plan for when we have the ball and when we don’t. It’s time to restart."
Despite being quick to play down any promises over style of football, Klopp’s impact on the Merseyside club has been undeniable.
Once the Liverpool boss had altered his personnel, he soon implemented his iconic ‘heavy metal football’, a term coined by the eccentric German himself.
His high-intense, fast-paced attacking style of football saw Klopp’s Reds press opponents into submission as he successfully introduced ‘Gegenpress’ – meaning counter-press – into the Premier League and achieved the Liverpool ‘restart’ he was aiming for.
By July 2020, the frightening front three of Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino had combined to net 250 goals in all competitions under the German boss.
4. Not caring about the press
"It’s surreal. I woke up this morning and I was manager of Liverpool FC. I don’t care about things like press. I’m a normal football manager and I want to be on the pitch. That’s similar all over the world. I am prepared for this because of my experiences. It’s absolutely crazy what happened here.
"Everyone has told me about the British press. It’s up to you to tell me they are all liars!"
With his infectious personality and raucous laugh, Klopp has been a welcome addition to the Premier League, earning respect from English football fans across the country for his honesty, integrity and boundless energy.
Over the years, he has provided us with countless entertaining moments and quotes, however, his early claim to not care about the English press hasn’t always rung true.
A 2-0 Wednesday night Anfield defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League in November of 2020 was followed up by a 1-1 stalemate at Brighton in a Saturday lunch-time kick-off days later and saw an enraged Klopp hit back at BT Sport journalist Des Kelly.
During the heated exchange, Klopp took aim at BT Sport, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder and the Premier League as he blamed Liverpool’s busy fixture list for the reason his players were picking up injuries.
It was a far cry from the carefree comments of his opening press conference.
5. Becoming history-makers
"This is one of the biggest problems in Liverpool. The Premier League is one of the most difficult in the world. There's five, six or seven clubs that can be the champions. Only one can win and all the others are disappointed and live in the middle of disaster.
They (the players) have to think they can reach the expectations of the fans and the press. If someone wants to help they have to change from doubter to believer.
It’s not important what people said when you come in, but what they say when you leave. If we want this could be a special day.
We can start in a very difficult league and in a special Liverpool way we can be successful. If we sit here in four years I think we win a title, I’m pretty sure. If not, maybe Switzerland!"
Although he didn’t manage to return the Reds to the league-winning glory days of old in four years, as predicted, it didn’t take Klopp much longer to end the draught and write his name into Liverpool folklore.
Despite registering a staggering 97 points, remaining unbeaten at Anfield in the league for a second successive season, matching a club record of 30 league wins in a season and only suffering one league defeat, Klopp’s Liverpool were excruciatingly pipped to the 2018-19 Premier League title by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City by a solitary point.
Lifting Liverpool’s sixth European trophy by overcoming Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League Final shortly afterwards was, however, a pretty decent consolation.
The following season, Klopp’s men sought revenge and went one better, finally securing Liverpool a 19th league title – and first in the Premier League era – an astonishing 30 years after the last. History had been made.
6. Becoming a Liverpool legend
"I don’t compare myself with these geniuses within the history of Liverpool. It’s cool that you are looking forward to the work for the next few months and years.
None of these man agers said they wanted to be a legend when they arrived. This is a great club because of many good decisions in the past."
Bill Shankly. Bob Paisley. Jurgen Klopp.
Who could have foreseen six years on from that now iconic first press conference, that Klopp would have written himself into the Liverpool history books?
But that’s exactly what he’s done. The Reds have well-and-truly returned to the glory days of old, having already raised aloft five trophies during the Klopp reign.
And you get the impression the 54-year-old isn’t finished yet. Not bad for a normal guy from the Black Forest.
