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| Hot dog anyone? |
JURGEN KLOPP set foot in Liverpool early yesterday evening to find a club already in thrall to him.
The private jet which touched down at John Lennon International Airport was the German's white charger as the hipster's choice-turned-man-of-the-people arrived with the task of orchestrating a lasting revival at Anfield.
Ambition rules where apathy reigned and now all Klopp needs to do is justify the hype. Changing the mood may well prove to have been the easy part.
"There is a buzz about the club again," said Les Lawson, chairman of the Merseyside branch of the Liverpool Supporters' Club. "The whole place needed lifting because everyone's chin was on the floor.
"Now in the space of a few days there is optimism and the fans have a manager they believe in. There hasn't been this much excitement about someone coming to Liverpool for long, long time."
That Klopp has done so in an instant serves note not just of the weight of the former Borussia Dortmund coach's personality but of his managerial CV too.
The one-line official statement announcing his appointment as Brendan Rodgers' successor last night brought all the confirmation supporters craved and will hopefully be a metaphor for what is to follow.
It is high time actions spoke louder than words at Liverpool and, if perusing Klopp's colourful quotes from his time in the Bundesliga with Mainz, and then Dortmund, has made for interesting reading this week, it is on the training pitch that he must be a true force of nature.
Liverpool have not just hired a showman on a three-year contract worth a reputed £7m a year.
Rather, they have lured someone they hope will be the real deal as owners Fenway Sports Group ditch their own obsession with potential and turn to proven quality, even if Klopp is untried in English football and as yet unsure whether his penchant for double training sessions can prevail in a league without a winter break.
It is Liverpool's most high-profile managerial appointment since Rafa Benitez, who also boasted two league titles and had made waves in Europe during his stint at Valencia, and potentially far less of a risk than those who followed the Spaniard.
Roy Hodgson was the wrong fit from the outset, Kenny Dalglish a nod and wink to a glorious past, and Rodgers an emerging talent. His picture, which dominated one of the windows of the club shop at Anfield alongside the message: Commit, Believe, Belong, was ripped down yesterday lunchtime as Liverpool prepared the way for the new man.
To continue the similarities, Klopp's first league game will be at White Hart Lane a week on Saturday just as Benitez's first taste of the Premier League came away at Tottenham in August 2004 when Djibril Cisse scored on debut in a 1-1 draw.
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| Klopp at John Lennon International Airport en route to Anfield |
Benitez was charged with keeping the club in the top four. He failed but delivered the Champions League at the end of his first season as compensation and duly forced UEFA to rip up their own rulebook governing entry back into Europe's elite.
Klopp's mission is different. He is rebuilding and, while Liverpool's history can be a burden, it is wholly responsible for attracting the 48-year-old.
A club which has finished below Tottenham in five of the last six seasons has little right to attract someone of his calibre and, having dragged Dortmund up, it will be interesting to hear Klopp's reasoning for signing up for a similar task when he speaks to the media on Friday morning.
"I don't think anyone thinks it is going to be easy," said Lawson. "But having someone with a track record that says he is one of the best managers in Europe has got to give you hope."
One of the things Rodgers did get right in his final weeks at Anfield was to reference the hysteria that so often swirls around the manager's post at Liverpool. The difference now is that the frenzy surrounds the arrival of a coach and not the departure of one.
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