Jurgen Klopp was brought to Liverpool because of his reputation and history of success. At his former club, Borussia Dortmund, he had taken a team that had known failure for a long, long time and turned them into a title winner and Champions League finalist. Outside of his ability to build a team and teach it his tactical philosophy, he was known for his power of charisma. He knows how to say the right thing in the right way in order to get a reaction from people.
That power, the power to motivate and inspire, is a very real tool that the best coaches have. Some times it’s referred to as “it,” and Klopp’s mastery of “it” is one of the reasons why Liverpool brought him over in the first place.
Yesterday the club got to see just how powerful “it” can be.
Liverpool were down 3-1 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund going into half-time of yesterday’s second-leg match. Because of the away goals rule, Liverpool had to score three goals in order to advance. Conscious of the massive task his, Klopp addressed his team.
We’ll let Liverpool midfielder James Milner, who was witness to Klopp’s half-time speech, take it from here (H/T Mirror).
“The manager was brilliant. He was calm. I think it was the perfect atmosphere created at half time to be honest.”
“It would have been easy for him to come in effing and blinding but he didn’t.”
“He said we are not playing too badly. It is a long way back but we have nothing to lose. We have lost the first half, but you have nothing to lose, go out and do it.
“He was like ‘let's go for it. It is going to be difficult.’ And reminded us of a situation where club has come through a similar situation before.
“He obviously mentioned a certain night in Istanbul and said there have been other great nights in this club’s history from a similar position so go out and see what happens.”
In case you have been living under a rock, now is the time to remind all of you that Liverpool pulled off the comeback. In fact, they scored four goals in the second half, and they needed every one of them because Dortmund scored another goal of its own as well.
Liverpool celebrate Dejan Lovren's clutch, game-winning goal. Photo: @BBCSport | Twitter
Milner, who assisted the game winning goal, gave credit to everyone, but singled out the belief Jurgen Klopp gave him and his teammates as “massive.”
“The drive from everyone, from the fans before we got into the ground, the manager and the staff and the rest of the players; it was great from everyone. But the belief the manager has given us is massive.”
This is why Liverpool got Jurgen Klopp. This is why Klopp is believed to be the man that can return Liverpool to it’s glory days of yesteryear. Will it take a lot more than one inspirational speech and unbelievable comeback to do it? Of course.
It may only be a step in the right direction, but it a step a club like Liverpool needs to make in order to become great again.
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