Liverpool news: Why Liverpool’s most important star is Jürgen Klopp

The Anfield boss is vital  

When Jürgen Klopp stepped on to the stage to receive his manager of the year award the only audible complaint came from the very man who was presenting the German coach with the prestigious, individual award. Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, made a humorous admission when Klopp stepped on to the stage, stating that it was “agony, absolute agony” to give the award to a Liverpool manager. Before revealing that he once advised Klopp to pick a club with history if he ever made the move to English football. “I should have told him to go to Scunthorpe United,” grumbled the old Scot. 

Indeed, while Manchester City may have won the Premier League title for another season, it was still abundantly clear to all involved with English football that Klopp’s success in taking Liverpool to within a single matchday of winning the league campaign was worthy of far more praise. Pep Guardiola had done what was expected of his star-studded squad, but Klopp’s team had once again upset the odds and overachieved. 

Ahead of a Champions League final with Real Madrid, which will pit the Anfield side against Madrid’s own collection of individual stars, like Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr, it’s worth bearing in mind that while Liverpool do have their own stars, none come nearly as close to being as important to the club’s continued success as Klopp and the miracles he seems to perform on and off the pitch each and every season. 

Underspending and overperforming – How Klopp gets the best out of Liverpool 

What’s most striking about Klopp’s Liverpool teams since he arrived in 2015 is that the former Borussia Dortmund head coach has managed to get far more out of players that weren’t initially considered as stars before they joined the Anfield side. Although some ready-made giants like Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson have joined the club under Klopp’s tenure, it’s easy to forget that players like Andy Robertson, Joel Matip, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and even two incredible forwards like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané were by no means considered players capable of winning Champions League titles. 

Jürgen Klopp has won four major titles as Liverpool manager

What’s even more impressive is just how little money the club spent on building his remarkable team pic.twitter.com/K0hTJQZd92

— Transfermarkt.co.uk (@TMuk_news) May 26, 2022

Indeed, it’s with that in mind that it’s easy to see why Klopp’s most used starting XI since he joined Liverpool actually only cost the club a paltry sum of £293.6 million in transfer fees. In comparison, Guardiola’s most used starting XI during his time at Man City cost no less than £432m. In fact, since Klopp made the move to Anfield in the summer of 2015, Man City have spent an incredible £487m more on transfer fees than Liverpool and undoubtedly much more on wages. 

Of course, Liverpool’s efficient transfer strategy of scouting and identifying cheaper stars would only work if they had a manager that could get the very best out of the players in question, which is exactly why Klopp is so invaluable to the club. Swap Klopp with Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti or Mikel Arteta and the entire system would rumble on but not nearly as well as it currently does. Where other clubs rely on big signings and star players to win them titles, Liverpool are undoubtedly reliant entirely on Klopp to work his magic and help them punch above their weight. 

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