In his new book, "Klopp: Bring The Noise", Raphael Honigstein looks at the story of the Liverpool manager's career. Here, he details the impact of Klopp's arrival at Anfield.
The flight of Klopp's private plane from Germany to Liverpool had been monitored on the Internet by 35,500 Reds supporters, before the club had put him up in a boutique hotel on Hope Street ahead of his unveiling. The heavy symbolism was not accidental: in the minds of many fans, the Swabian wasn't so much the new coach but a harbinger of dreams, the man who would shake the club out of its mid-table stupor and ring in a return to glorious days past. 'His appointment feels so instinctively right because the 48 year-old's extra-large personality will immediately cut through much of the befuddled silence that has befallen Anfield since the club almost won the championship in 2014 and ensure the volume is from now on turned all the way up,' wrote the Guardian. Former Liverpool player Mark Lawrenson, not a man prone to emotional outbreaks, predicted that Klopp would 'bring back excitement to Anfield.' With his ' over- sized personality and 1,000-megawatt smile, he's box office,' Lawrenson added during a break from doing a show for lfc.tv in a city-centre high-rise. 'People hope that he will bring back the good times. That's already worth something.'
No other footballing country believes as much in the transformative powers of a manager as England, and Liverpool is the city that believes it most -- thanks to Bill Shankly. The club's past greatness and a much more complicated present, in which they've been forced to play catch up with richer rivals and upstarts, has created an unsteady climate, swinging wildly from overblown expectation to deep depression. Many prospective saviours have come and gone, unable to navigate the maelstrom of volatility.
Klopp (dark jeans, black blazer, Chelsea boots) presented himself as a supremely relaxed football electrician at his unveiling, confident that a bit of re wiring could get the current flowing again, but also acknowledged the complexity of the overall challenge. 'We must not carry 20kg of history on our backs,' he warned, nor should the club bemoan its relative lack of funds. 'We should not think about money, only football.' Amen. Liverpool's situation, he added, was 'not that bad. It's a good time to make changes, a restart.' He promised 'full- throttle football' to cook up an emotional storm in the stadium but was at pains to play down his own importance. He was neither 'an idiot' nor 'a genius,' 'a know it all' or 'a dreamer', he ventured, before landing the killer line. 'I'm just a normal guy from the Black Forest. I'm the Normal One.' Cue laughter all around. It takes huge amounts of self- assuredness to proclaim yourself ordinary in front of the world's media ahead of the first day in a big job. Süddeutsche Zeitung was reminded of the famous scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, where the eponymous hero tries -- and fails -- to convince a crowd of disciples that he's wholly unworthy of their adulation. 'Only the true messiah denies his own divinity,' one woman exclaims. Liverpool, not slow to recognise the marketing potential of the new man in charge, duly trademarked 'The Normal One' as a phrase and produced a range of official merchandise bearing the slogan.
FSG president Mike Gordon says he was not surprised by the huge hype that greeted Klopp's appointment. 'Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool FC really are a match made in heaven. The passion of our fans, the authenticity of our fans and our supporters, the way that they feel about our football and their intelligence as football fans, meant that they understood right away that this was an extraordinary person to lead something that was so important to them. While I keep mentioning that the substance of Jürgen actually surpasses the style, the style is still very compelling. We all can agree on that. It is not surprising that the people took to him immediately and so powerfully. That started at the very first press conference. That is among the least surprising things that have happened so far.'
Gordon predicted to the LFC press department that they would be 'getting a Ferrari' in the new manager. Kenny Dalglish, too, anticipated a white- knuckle ride. 'I just heard Klopp's press conference and he sounds very, very impressive,' the former coach said. 'I think the supporters will need to fasten their seat belts -- I'm sure they will really enjoy him.'
Acquaintances from Germany who visited Klopp in Liverpool during his first season in England noted that everybody at Anfield and Melwood happily opened doors for them as soon as they announced that they were there to see the manager. TV reporter Martin Quast sat in Klopp's office one day, waiting to shoot an interview, and could already hear his friend's laughter echoing through the corridors. 'I took a peek outside and saw Liverpool employees running about, all with huge smiles on their faces. And of course Kloppo's there among them, making jokes and making them feel good. That's his style, that kind of openness. I remember in his place in Mainz, all the doors to the various apartments were always open, and the guy who rented the flat above him would just pop in for breakfast in the morning. He just loves having people around him.' Klopp's so approachable that he's unofficially been serving as Melwood's resident agony aunt. At least one LFC employee with relationship troubles has turned to him for advice.