“You have to change from a doubter to a believer. We have to start together new.”
Jurgen Klopp’s immortal line after stepping through the doors at Anfield for the first time as Liverpool manager would go on to define his time at the club. It’s no wonder then that the makers behind the new documentary charting his final season chose it for their title.
More than nine years on from that day, there can be no doubt that he succeeded in his mission. What people perhaps forget though is just how much doubt there was when he first arrived on Merseyside.
‘Doubters to Believers Liverpool FC: Klopp’s Era’ not only covers Klopp’s final season as Liverpool boss, but his journey throughout football from his time as a solid if – by his own admission – not all that talented center-forward at Mainz, to one of the greatest managers in the world.
For Liverpool fans, this will be appointment viewing, although it won’t be without its challenges. There is of course the not-so-Hollywood ending as the final title challenge crumbles, but it is a rather muddled final offering of a documentary in the end – making Harvey Elliott’s dad the focus for much of the final two episodes was certainly a, shall we say, interesting choice.
What it achieves though is giving you an even greater appreciation for just what Klopp did during his time on Merseyside. Immediately after he’s unveiled as Liverpool’s manager in 2015, the documentary plays clips of disgruntled fans voicing their concerns – one even makes the quite remarkable shout that the Reds should have hired Alan Pardew instead.
And even as he began to weave his magic – Klopp that is, not Pardew – getting Liverpool back into the Champions League in his first full season in charge, there were still those doubting him. The fact that he had inherited a side only sliding further down the table, and needed to stamp his authority on some of the more unruly members of his squad – Mamadou Sakho, anyone? – clearly went over a few people’s heads.
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It all came good eventually of course as the Reds went on to become European, World and Premier League champions, but it’s clear for the most part of the documentary that those weren’t Klopp’s greatest achievements.
At the start of the final episode, Klopp is shown footage of Bill Shankly, the most influential figure in Liverpool’s history. Fans are seen singing his name at Wembley, much in the same way that Klopp was serenaded by the Kop on a weekly basis.
For him to be held in as high esteem as that tells you all you need to know about Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. In the same way Shankly molded the club in his image, the modern Liverpool now has the German’s imprint on it.
There is much emphasis on the role played by the club’s younger players and how they helped Liverpool regain its identity, not least thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who would become Klopp’s linchpin during his early stages as boss.
The documentary doesn’t get the ending it so clearly wanted – in fact, at one point, it threatens to go off the rails completely when Klopp delivers a foul-mouthed response to being asked about the 2-0 defeat in his final Merseyside derby. But once the dust settles, we’re left to admire a man whose place in Liverpool history is now secure.
I certainly wasn’t ready for the final shot of Klopp sitting outside the AXA Training Centre. “I left my office for the last time” he tells the camera as the enormity of his departure seemingly begins to dawn on him. Watching on as a Liverpool fan, it offered much the same sort of gut punch I felt when he first announced he would be leaving.
“I will be fine, and more importantly the club as well, because you saw the team now, that’s a bunch of really good people, and they will be fine, or even more.”
No other Liverpool manager during my lifetime could have elicited such a response. Rival fans may scoff at the one league title under his stewardship in a desperate attempt to downplay what he achieved, but Klopp delivered something so much more important.
Now, with Arne Slot’s side marching relentlessly toward another Premier League crown, and potentially adding two more trophies for good measure, those days of worrying whether Liverpool will even get into Europe are long gone.
I’m no longer a doubter, I’m a believer, thanks to Jurgen Klopp.
