Jurgen Klopp - Five years at Liverpool: We look at how German has turned the Reds into dominant Premier League champions

“We have to change from doubters to believers.”

That was one of the big messages from Jurgen Klopp as he was appointed as Liverpool manager on October 8, 2015. He’s done just that, and so much more.

He also promised “heavy metal football” and famously said that if he hadn’t won the title within four years then he’d be packed off to manage in Austria.

Well, it took him four-and-a-half years or thereabouts to end Liverpool’s long title drought, but for Reds fans it was almost worth that wait for the way he built a side that dominated the Premier League like no other team before them had managed.

From that first game at Tottenham, a 0-0 draw would you believe, Klopp has taken Liverpool fans on a wild ride, through gegenpressing, frantic finishes, goal fests, multiple cup final heartaches to coming so, so close to winning the league. Was he destined to be another Anfield nearly-man?

The answer was an emphatic no, with perhaps Klopp’s greatest achievement managing to keep his team going following a record-breaking, second-place finish in the Premier League, to grinding out a Champions League title before a season of utter dominance.

Klopp more than a cheerleader

The energy the German generates on the touchline is second to none. Klopp is a shouting, jumping bundle of tension during Liverpool matches. He’s often been chief supporter and cheerleader, turning into conductor of the Anfield orchestra when his team most needs it.

Many wrongly questioned his tactical acumen and general competence as a manager merely because he was an enthusiastic watcher, and prolific hugger of his players, and he was roundly laughed at when he sent his players to the Kop end to salute the fans after a 2-2 draw with West Brom.

There’s a different level to Klopp though, there’s the master motivator, of course, but also the tactical mindset, and man who knows that every ounce of advantage is crucial at top level football. He knew the power of Anfield, well aware that it’s one of the best home advantages in football at times. Getting the crowd involved has helped the Reds to perform miracle (see Barcelona).

Improvement has been gradual but consistent, they’ve won more and more games every season and that winning mentality has been nurtured and encouraged. A culture of winning football matches is such a hard thing to develop, but the elusive ingredient has been bred through hard work, tactical know-how, fine signings and a clear direction of how they wanted to play.

Klopp’s Liverpool never give up, they’ve produced comeback after comeback after comeback, late goals, close games, almost everything has gone their way during the last couple of years, but it all comes from Klopp and his high-intensity training.

Again, something that came into question when injuries struck early on in his reign, but that training program is now a huge reason for their continued excellence and impressive consistency.

Klopp summed it up himself after winning the league: “We play like we play because we train like we train.”

How Klopp built his dominant Reds

Klopp, along with Michael Edwards it must be said, has been superb in the transfer market. You can’t win the Premier League without spending money (Leicester may disagree, of course) but it’s also how you spend it.

Man United have spent plenty with little reward, Everton have consistently spent but under-achieved in recent years (until this summer) and even the great Pep Guardiola has hardly got great rewards for the expensive defenders he’s brought in.

Although Klopp’s first signings at Liverpool, Marko Grujic and Steven Caulker, may not have been exactly world-beaters, as time goes on it’s harder to find the misses among the many hits.

Loris Karius stands out as the keeper ended up costing Liverpool the Champions League final, but even then Klopp showed an attribute not often seen in managers when he admitted his mistake and instead went all-out for Alisson Becker.

Sadio Mane for £30m, Joel Matip for free, Gini Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Fabinho are all excellent signings, and ones that fit into Klopp’s system perfectly.

The patience and the ability to not sign players also needs to be applauded, though.

Most notably of course is the Virgil van Dijk transfer, with Klopp not dropping to his next option when made to wait, instead opting to stick it out and sign Van Dijk in January – and soon the flak coming his way for paying that £75m soon changed into how he’d probably pulled off a bargain deal.

Signing Alisson, again, showed a great insight into how football, and footballers, work, knowing that teams hardly win anything without a goalkeeper that inspires confidence just as well as he saves shots.

Everyone is aware what followed, the earliest ever a Premier League title had been won, despite all that was happening around them – and coming just a season after missing out in the most soul-crushing fashion in an epic title race.

Make no mistake, Klopp has performed absolute wonders at Anfield, the pressure was just immense to bring that Premier League title back to the club, but he did it in the most incredible fashion.

He’s done it with tactics, he’s done it with an immense passion - shared with the fans - he’s done it with a hunger, a drive and determination that he instils in his players, but also with a smile on his face and a post-match cuddle with his players.

Premier League players are strange animals, they need nurturing at times, egos stroked at times and a kick up the backside at others. Klopp has developed the team ethic perfectly, each and every player will run through brick walls for his team and his manager.

They way they play is a direct reflection of Klopp.

We’ve not seen many like Jurgen Klopp, and he’ll go down as a Liverpool legend. The club just need to find the right place for his statue.

Jurgen Klopp – Five years at Liverpool Opta stats

• Thursday, 8th October 2020 marks five years since Jürgen Klopp was appointed as Liverpool manager, replacing Brendan Rodgers. In this time, the German has taken the Reds to Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup and Premier League titles – the latter being their first English league championship in 30 years.
• The German has taken charge of 272 matches as Liverpool manager across nine separate competitions, winning 164 of those.
• Season-by-season, the improvement Klopp has seen his Liverpool side make is clear – he has taken the Reds from a 44.2% win ratio in his first season in charge in 2015-16 to a 71.9% rate last term, ultimately resulting in the club winning their first Premier League title. In every season since Klopp joined the Reds, they have won more games than they did in the previous campaign.

Liverpool under Klopp

Season | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | GF | GA | Win %

• 2015/2016: 52 | 23 | 17 | 12 | 87 | 58 | 44.2%
• 2016/2017: 47 | 27 | 11 | 9 | 92 | 47 | 57.4%
• 2017/2018: 56 | 31 | 16 | 9 | 135 | 63 | 55.4%
• 2018/2019: 53 | 38 | 8 | 7 | 115 | 38 | 71.7%
• 2019/2020: 57 | 41 | 8 | 8 | 117 | 63 | 71.9%
• 2020/2021: 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 57.1

• Overall, Klopp’s win rate in all competitions of 60.3% is the best of any Liverpool manager to have taken charge of at least 50 matches in the club’s history.
• Indeed, in the Premier League, Klopp’s Liverpool average 2.17 points-per-game; in the competition’s history, only Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola (2.33) can better this ratio among managers with 10+ games to their name.

Premier League All-Time

Manager | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | GF | GA | Pts/Game

1. Pep Guardiola: 155 | 114 | 19 | 22 | 389 | 131 | 2.33
2. Jurgen Klopp: 186 | 121 | 41 | 24 | 402 | 186 | 2.17
3. Alex Ferguson: 810 | 528 | 168 | 114 | 1,627 | 703 | 2.16
4. Antonio Conte: 76 | 51 | 10 | 15 | 147 | 71 | 2.14
5. José Mourinho: 335 | 205 | 77 | 53 | 583 | 273 | 2.07
6. Roberto Mancini: 133 | 82 | 27 | 24 | 255 | 111 | 2.05

• In all competitions, 88 players have made an appearance for Liverpool in the five years since Klopp arrived at the club, 58 of which were handed their club debut in this time. The first debutant under Klopp was Connor Randall in a League Cup fourth round win over Bournemouth in October 2015, while the most recent was Diogo Jota, coming on as a substitute in a 7-2 win at Lincoln in September, a game in which Konstantinos Tsimikas and Rhys Williams also made their club debuts in the starting XI.
• Of the 88 players fielded by Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp, the player with the most appearances is Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino (242), who has featured in 89% of Klopp’s 272 games in charge.
• Excluding own goals, 42 different players have scored a competitive goal for Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp, with Mohamed Salah (99) netting more than any other Reds player in this time. Indeed, Klopp’s renowned front three of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané have scored a combined 261 goals for Liverpool under the German – accounting for 46% of Liverpool’s all competition total in the last five years.
• In terms of assists, Roberto Firmino leads the way for Klopp’s Liverpool, setting up 54 goals – at least 17 more than any of his teammates in this time.

Assists under Klopp

• Roberto Firmino 54
• James Milner 37
• Mohamed Salah 37
• Trent Alexander-Arnold 34
• Andrew Robertson 31
• Sadio Mané 27
• Philippe Coutinho 22
• Jordan Henderson 17
• Adam Lallana 16

• Against no other sides have Klopp’s Liverpool enjoyed more wins in all competitions than they have against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace (both eight), while the Reds have netted 36 goals in 13 meetings with Arsenal under Klopp, more than any other opponent.
• Liverpool’s biggest wins in their five years with Klopp at the helm both came in the 2017-18 Champions League group stage, beating Maribor 7-0 in October 2017 and Spartak Moscow by the same scoreline in December 2017.
• Klopp has overseen record-breaking runs as Liverpool manager in the Premier League. From October 2019 to February 2020, the Reds won 18 consecutive league matches, a joint-record in English top-flight history, while also going unbeaten in 44 games from January 2019 to February 2020.
• The Reds also won an outright record 24 straight Premier League home matches from February 2019 to July 2020 and remain undefeated in their last 61 league games at Anfield – the thirdlongest unbeaten home run in the English top-flight by any side.
• In fact, in the last two full seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20), Liverpool have achieved points tallies of 97 and 99 respectively – two of the top six totals in English top-flight history (adjusting to 3pts/win all-time).

English Top-Flight - Best Winning Runs

• 24/02/2020 Liverpool 18
• 27/12/2017 Manchester City 18
• 05/10/2019 Liverpool 17
• 10/08/2019 Manchester City 15
• 18/08/2002 Arsenal 14

English Top-Flight - Best Home Winning Runs

• 05/07/2020 Liverpool 24
• 30/12/1972 Liverpool 21
• 21/03/2012 Manchester City 20
• 01/04/1907 Newcastle United 20
• 31/12/1892 Preston North End 20

English Top-Flight - Best Unbeaten Runs

• 16/10/2004 Arsenal 49
• 24/02/2020 Liverpool 44
• 25/11/1978 Nottingham Forest 42
• 29/10/2005 Chelsea 40
• 26/08/1969 Leeds United 34

English Top-Flight - Best Home Unbeaten Runs

• 05/10/2008 Chelsea 86
• 27/12/1980 Liverpool 63
• Ongoing Liverpool 61
• 03/11/1979 Nottingham Forest 49
• 06/12/1893 Sunderland 44

English Top-Flight - Most Points in a Season

• 2017-18 Manchester City P38 W32 D4 L2 F106 A27 Pts100 Pos1
• 2019-20 Liverpool P38 W32 D3 L3 F85 A33 Pts99 Pos1
• 2018-19 Manchester City P38 W32 D2 L4 F95 A23 Pts98 Pos1
• 1978-79 Liverpool P42 W30 D8 L4 F85 A16 Pts98 Pos1
• 2018-19 Liverpool P38 W30 D7 L1 F89 A22 Pts97 Pos2
• 1960-61 Tottenham Hotspur P42 W31 D4 L7 F115 A55 Pts97 Pos1

Follow Sporting Life on social - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLifeFC

Related football content

• Five best Premier League signings
• Transfer window: Winners & losers
• Every Premier League done deal
• Transfer Market: Latest updates
• Transfer Window: Done deals
• Latest football previews and tips
• Sporting Life App: Android & iOS