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Liverpool were a somewhat different beast when Jurgen Klopp took the bench five years ago.
Initial progress had been made in the League Cup and a Europa League campaign was already underway.
But the fact that the Reds were tied in the last competition underscored the significant hangover they had continued to suffer from having narrowly missed the Premier League title in 2014.
That was reflected in Liverpool’s league position, in 10th place after scoring just 12 points from its first eight games.
So, a lot of work had to be done. And Klopp’s early days saw him pinpoint a few key areas that charted a course for what he was going to follow.
Making Anfield a fortress again
The division between the team and the fan base had become painfully evident during the final weeks of the Brendan Rodgers era, the lack of progress on the field impossible to ignore.
“It is very important that we do everything closer,” Klopp said. “We need to be closer to all the staff, the fans.
“It’s important that they don’t think ‘these are the well-paid guys, we’re the fans.’ I want it to be different in these times. This is the largest football family in the world and we try to live it.
“Looking from the outside, they seem to be a bit nervous. The atmosphere in the stadium is good, but nobody really enjoys it. It’s never good enough. “
Klopp’s final comment touched on how demanding Liverpool supporters had become, and how they regularly sought to be picky even after the most impressive of victories.
He soon had firsthand experience of Anfield’s troubles when he declared that he had never felt so lonely as when thousands of people quietly made their way out towards the end of a 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace.
A 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion a few weeks later was a turning point as Klopp led his players to salute the Kop after Divock Origi scored a late draw.
Liverpool are now 61 league games at home unbeaten, two short of the club’s record, and have lost just four of 93 Premier League games at Anfield with the German.
Buy and sell at the right price
Transfers had become a stumbling block under Rodgers. And while Liverpool couldn’t compete with some of their main Premier League rivals in terms of purchasing power, Klopp didn’t bother.
“I’m doing what I’ve always done,” he said. “I am always involved in transfers. I was never the type to talk about money. That doesn’t interest me.
“If someone tells me that £ 100 million is too much, I don’t care another second. I don’t want to buy a player for 100 million pounds or 100 million euros.
“The best thing is if you have a player and you can sell him for £ 100 million. You don’t want to, but it’s worth it. “
Backed by Fenway Sports Group, although Klopp has not broken the £ 100 million barrier, he has been awarded enough funds to twice break the club’s transfer record in strengthening his team.
And of course his two biggest signings, Virgil van Dijk, £ 75m, and Alisson Becker, £ 65m, came after Klopp gave the green light to Philippe Coutinho’s departure to Barcelona for 142 million pounds.
It was, as the Reds boss had predicted, the best for him and his team.
Keep the mercenaries away
Attracting players to Liverpool was not easy at first, given that they were not in the Champions League and then lost again at the end of Klopp’s first season.
Mario Gotze was one of several players who thought twice before moving to Anfield on that basis.
And, for the Reds boss, there could be no debate.
“If a player doesn’t want to come to Liverpool, stay away,” he said. “Really. If you think about the weather, stay away. If you think about other things, stay away.
“If you want to come here, you are welcome. That is the first and most important problem. “
Klopp was a huge draw for players like Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Van Dijk. The success that followed has made recruiting players much easier.
Anfield is, for almost everyone, the ideal place.
Pressing your point
Despite all the talk of ‘heavy metal football’, there is one aspect of the game that remains non-negotiable as a cornerstone of Klopp’s Liverpool.
“We cannot talk about football philosophy and ball possession, play like Barcelona, play like whoever,” he said.
“No, this team needs to create its own style. If you have the ball you have to be creative, but you have to be prepared so that if you lose the ball the counter pressure is very important. It is not a proposal, it is law.
“You can’t decide ‘um’, you have to and you will. That is what we all have to learn ”.
The law soon became the norm, the intensity of Liverpool’s identity, a squad full of pressing monsters.
Those who didn’t adapt or couldn’t adapt were soon outnumbered.
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And the one who was wrong …
Klopp was adamant on how he wanted his new team to perform.
“I’m not the type that is going to go out and yell ‘let’s take over the world’ or something like that,” he said.
“But we will win the ball, right? Every damn time! “
Liverpool did win the ball.
But in doing so, they also became the reigning world champions for the first time in their history.
Maybe Klopp should have yelled it after all.
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