Klopp's Greatest Achievement? He Faced Down Guardiola And City, Confronting An Existential Threat To The Game
It's wild to believe that the Liverpool manager didn't live up to expectations during his time at Anfield. He challenged the most dominant club in the history of English football
How should we judge Jurgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool? What was the defining characteristic of the 56-year-old’s time in the Premier League.
You can sum it up in two words: Manchester City.
There has been so much guff spoken about Klopp’s spell at Anfield. One school of thought suggests that he underachieved. Another theory claims – this was articulated to me last week in a question from Andy Jacobs on Talksport – that the German is a “lucky manager.”
Some luck that, being in a league with Pep Guardiola’s City.
Klopp arrived in the Premier League in October 2015, eight months before Guardiola pitched up at the Etihad. Liverpool had finished sixth the previous season under Brendan Rodgers and were tenth in the table when Klopp was appointed.
Both men’s first full season, 2016-17, was the last time English football felt competitive, if only in a so-called ‘Big Six’ way. Chelsea won the title, Arsenal lifted the FA Cup and Manchester United took the League Cup back to Old Trafford.
Then Guardiola and City took over.
Since that point seven years ago, we have experienced a period of unprecedented dominance by everyone’s favourite sportswashing vehicle. City have won six out of seven titles but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The numbers get worse when you take into account the other domestic silverware. There have been 20 trophies available since the start of the 2017-18 season. City have won 13 of them.
That’s 60 per cent of the trophies. If, as expected, City beat United in the FA Cup final on Saturday, that silverware-winning percentage will be even higher. That’s mind boggling.
How does it compare to the other dominant spells in the English game’s history? Liverpool won the title seven times in nine seasons between 1975 and 1984. But the game’s spoils were shared around during that era. Anfield’s trophy room was home to 41 per cent of the silverware during the Reds’ golden age. Eleven other clubs experienced glory during Liverpool’s period of hegemony.
United ruled the 1990s and early 2000s. Alex Ferguson’s side were relentless, winning eight titles in 11 seasons. Yet, taking into account the domestic cups, United scooped up 33 per cent of the trophies. Nine other clubs managed to get their hands on the other 67 per cent.
City are relentless. They are greedy. Those who believe Klopp underachieved are ignoring the stark facts. Liverpool won four trophies (and a Champions League) during Klopp’s time in charge. He and Guardiola have grabbed 80 per cent of domestic silverware between them. Chelsea, Arsenal, Leicester City and United won one cup each in this time. Chelsea, creditably, were successful in Europe, bringing home the Champions League – beating City in the final – and the Europa League.
If Klopp has underachieved, where exactly in his Anfield reign was he supposed to do better? In the two finals after he picked up the reins from Rodgers? Liverpool were beaten by City in the League Cup and Sevilla in the Europa League as Klopp struggled to work his magic on an underpowered and unbalanced squad.
Could Liverpool have overhauled Guardiola’s men in the two title races that were decided by a single point? Breaking the 90 point barrier should allow you to top the table. Except when there’s a juggernaut like City in the league.
Should he have done better in Europe? The two Champions League final defeats were both to Real Madrid.
A lucky manager? Yeah, right. It's not exactly good fortune to be faced down by City and Real. After all, the Spanish giants have only been champions of Europe four times during the period Klopp spent at Anfield.
Cutting through the nonsense surrounding Klopp’s long farewell, his legacy is not the trophies he brought to Anfield or even the joy he inspired on the Kop. His importance to the game is that he went head-to-head with Guardiola and at least challenged the existential threat to English football that is City. He made them work for their trophies when no one else did.
Arsenal have flirted with a challenge for the past two seasons but the Gunners are not quite there. They fell away badly last season and, although they took the uncertainty to the final day of the league campaign this week, it never really felt like they were going to get over the line. Hopefully they will come back stronger in August. Someone needs to at least threaten City.
The champions are arguably the best team in English football history. They are certainly the most dominant. How much of that domination is the result of financial doping is open to question. They have been charged with 115 breaches of the profit and sustainability rules by the Premier League. If they did transgress, their achievements will be tainted. And Klopp’s will be amplified.
In a decade, with hindsight, the rabid voices on social media who are sending Klopp off with phrases like “bottler” and “choker” and those who think he failed to make the most of his time in the Premier League may be able to view his term at Liverpool with more clarity. They will most likely come to understand that he and his team were the only side to truly challenge City.
Klopp beat the unbeatable. Not as often as he would have liked, but more often than anyone else.
Guardiola feared only one man and one team in English football. That was Liverpool and their manager. Imagine how uncompetitive the game would have been without Klopp?