Klopp makes ‘arrogant’ claim as he closes in on historic European landmark
Jurgen Klopp returns to Liverpool, where he essentially began his career, about 2,682 days after the heartbreaking disappointment of Basel.
Even though the immediate mission is the same, it is much smaller in scope than the one the Reds manager took on when he initially started working at Anfield almost eight years ago.
Despite playing the bulk of the game with 10 men, Klopp’s first home game in command of Liverpool was a Europa League group encounter against Rubin Kazan, and the 1-1 tie served as an early warning of the work that had to be done to restore old glory.
Since then, there has been a sizable amount of development, with the occasional setback being shrugged off as Liverpool emerged as the only team to genuinely challenge Manchester City’s financially secure hegemony in England.
That wasn’t the case, though, until last season, when the enormous disappointment of failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2016 compelled Klopp to restructure a team that had been too stale and in need of new blood.
The Premier League season has gotten off to an impressive start, suggesting that the work put in over the summer, when more than £150 million was spent on four new midfielders, is already paying off. With 13 points out of 15 games, Liverpool is once again within striking distance of league leader City.