It’s hard to fathom right now, but Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp didn’t get off to a fast start at the Merseyside club. Having won a European title last season, and guided the Reds to a campaign that sees them champions-elect and on the verge of ending their league title drought this season, his tenure in Anfield has been glorious.
However, the beginning, when he took over for Brendan Rodgers in October of 2015, was rocky. Early on, the results weren’t there and the German, pegged by some as a leading candidate to take over his country’s national team some day, feared Fenway Sports Group would sack him.
Klopp had never gotten the sack at that point in his career (and obviously still hasn’t today), but this was a big money, big six Premier League club, where expectations are sky high and patience very short.
It’s a level of pressure much higher than at Borussia Dortmund or Mainz. However, Klopp quickly turned it around, leading LFC to three tournament finals in three years: 2016 Europa League and League Cup, 2018 Champions League, but lost all three. The results were a prelude to the success that was soon to come.
“It was clear we cannot fix it overnight. Everyone wanted that but we couldn’t so I had to ask for time, I knew,” Klopp said on Sky Sports’ Football Show.
“Before that in my career I never got the sack so I had no experience with that, but I knew then it was a different level, and if I can’t deliver here quick enough, then I will get the sack.
“We got that time and the nice thing is that after six, seven, eight games, they were really positive about the situation, they realised we were on the right path. From that moment they didn’t question it one second.”
Jurgen Klopp has also added a Club World Cup and a UEFA Super Cup title to his credit, and the Liverpool trophy case this season. What he’s been able to do is a testament to the virtue of patience. Liverpool leadership didn’t have an itchy trigger finger early on, and that’s paid off for everyone involved.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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