Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp
Personal information
Date of Birth	16 June 1967
Place of Birth	Stuttgart, West Germany
Managerial statistics
Years managed	2015-
Total games	25
Wins	12
Draws	7
Losses	6

Jürgen Norbert Klopp (born 16 June 1967) is a German football manager who is currently the manager of Liverpool F.C. After leaving Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2015, Klopp signed with the Reds on 8 October 2015, following the departure of Brendan Rodgers. He took over a Liverpool team that had failed to qualify for the Champions League in the 2014-15 season and were generally considered to be performing below expectations.

Liverpool career

Upon the conclusion of the 2014-15 season, manager Brendan Rodgers was under substantial scrutiny after a poor season in which Liverpool fell to sixth place in the Premier League, having come close to winning the title the season before, and had failed to win any trophy for the third season running. Klopp and former manager Rafael Benitez were both linked with the job, with both of them having left their clubs that summer.

Despite this, the owners stuck with Rodgers, but after a poor start to the 2015-16 season, the calls for Rodgers to leave intensified, and on 4 October 2015, after a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside Derby, it was confirmed that Rodgers had been sacked. Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti were both immediately linked with the job, with reports quickly surfacing that Klopp was the club's leading candidate. On 7 October, the BBC reported that Klopp was to be announced as manager the following day, and indeed, on 8 October 2015, it was confirmed that Klopp had become the 20th manager of Liverpool Football Club, signing a three year deal. The following day he was officially unveiled as the club's new manager at a press conference at Anfield. After some comparison with Jose Mourinho, Klopp was asked to describe himself in a similar vein to "The Special One", but jokingly said "I don't want to describe myself. I'm a totally normal guy, I'm the "normal one".

On 17 October 2015, Klopp took charge of his first game for the club, a 0-0 draw at Tottenham. During the first half an hour, Klopp's pressing play was shown to a high standard, but with players such as Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings, Christian Benteke, and Roberto Firmino ruled out through injury, a breakthrough couldn't be found. Five days later, Klopp managed at Anfield for the first time, drawing 1-1 against Rubin Kazan. On 25 October, Klopp took charge of his first home League game, another 1-1 draw, this time to Southampton. Christian Benteke gave Liverpool the lead, but poor set piece defending allowed the Saints to equalise with minutes remaining.

On 28 October 2015, Klopp won his first game in charge of the club, beating Bournemouth 1-0 at Anfield in the League Cup, with Nathaniel Clyne netting the winner. Klopp named a very youthful side, with Cameron Brannagan and Joao Carlos Teixeira making their first starts, and Connor Randall making his debut for the club. Three days later, the German won his first League game in charge, smashing Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, with Philippe Coutinho netting a brace, before Christian Benteke rounded it off. This result meant that Klopp was the first Liverpool manager since Bob Paisley to go undefeated in his first five games. On 5 November, Klopp won his third game in the row, beating Rubin Kazan 1-0 away, with Jordon Ibe netting the winning goal in a dominant performance.

However, on 8 November 2015, Liverpool were defeated 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace, Klopp's first defeat in charge of the club. On 21 November 2015, Liverpool delivered a stunning performance as Klopp's side crushed Manchester City away, beating the home side 4-1 at the Etihad. The Reds scored three goals in the first 32 minutes, with Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino particularly impressing, and both getting on the scoresheet. Joe Hart prevented Liverpool from running rampant, before Martin Skrtel smashed in the fourth from the edge of the box in the 81st minute. Five days later, Liverpool qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League, beating Bordeaux 2-1 at Anfield.

On 2 December 2015, Liverpool took part in the quarter-final of the League Cup, and progressed in spectacular style, smashing Southampton 6-1 at St Mary's. Daniel Sturridge netted twice in his first start under Klopp, and Jordon Ibe continued his great form by getting on the scoresheet, but Divock Origi made the headlines, netting a hattrick. However, just four days later, Liverpool put in one of their worst performances of the season, suffering a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle. Two weeks later, the Reds suffered a huge 3-0 defeat away to newly promoted Watford.

This bad run of form was ended on 26 December 2015, when Christian Benteke's strike gave Liverpool a 1-0 win against top of the league Leicester City. Four days later, Klopp's side ended the year on a high, beating Sunderland by a goal to nil away from home.

2016 got off to a disastrous start, as the Reds were beaten 2-0 by West Ham at Upton Park. Klopp claimed he was very angry at his team's performance, and demanded a response in their next game. The players did provide a response as Jordon Ibe's goal gave Liverpool a 1-0 win at Stoke in the League Cup semi-final first leg. However, it wasn't all positive, as Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren were both withdrawn with hamstring injuries.

On 6 January 2016, Klopp completed his first signing, adding Marko Grujic to the Liverpool squad from Red Star Belgrade for a reported fee of around £5,100,000, but only to loan him back to the club for the remainder of the season. Two days later, Klopp took charge in the FA Cup first time, but was forced by injuries to field a very young starting XI, with the likes of Tiago Ilori, and Ryan Kent making their debuts. The game ended 2-2, with Jerome Sinclair and Brad Smith both scoring their first goals for the club.

Klopp's second signing was made on 12 January 2016, with Steven Caulker signing on loan for the rest of the season. A day later, Liverpool drew 3-3 to Arsenal in a thrilling game, with Roberto Firmino netting a brace and Joe Allen scoring a dramatic final minute equaliser. However, four days later the Reds fell to defeat at home to bitter rivals Manchester United, with the opposition scoring with their only shot on target, in a game Liverpool largely dominated. The Reds progressed to the 4th round of the FA Cup with a 3-0 win in the replay at home to Exeter, with Sheyi Ojo and Joao Carlos Teixeira grabbing their first goals for the club. In the next League fixture, the Reds visited Norwich, and produced an astounding fixture, winning 5-4 with Adam Lallana netting the winner in the 95th minute. Klopp passionately celebrated this with his players, and ended up with his glasses broken by Christian Benteke. On 26 January 2016, the Reds progressed to the 2016 League Cup Final, beating Stoke on penalties at Anfield.

Stats

Competition	Total	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals for	Goals against
League	15	6	4	5	22	22
FA Cup	2	1	1	0	5	2
League Cup	4	3	0	1	8	2
Europe	4	2	2	0	4	2
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	25	12	7	6	39	28

See also

• Jurgen Klopp/Transfers

Liverpool F.C. – managers

McKenna and Barclay (t) (1892–96) • Watson (t) (1896–1915) • Ashworth (t) (1919–23) • McQueen (t) (1923–28) • Patterson (t) (1928–36) • Kay (t) (1936–51) • Welsh (t) (1951–56) • Taylor (t) (1956–59) • Shankly (t) (1959–74) • Paisley (t) (1974–83) • Fagan (t) (1983–85) • Dalglish (t) (1985–91) • Moran (1991) (c) • Souness (t) (1991–94) • Evans (t) (1994–98) • Evans and Houllier (t) (1998) • Houllier (t) (1998–2004) • Benitez (t) (2004–10) • Hodgson (t) (2010–11) • Dalglish (t) (2011–12) • Rodgers (t) (2012-15) • Klopp (t) (2015-) (c) - caretaker manager, (t) - transfers made by manager