"Game Changer: Klopp the Paradox Killer" by Niels Overgaard

This article was supposed to be about something else completely. My idea was to write something called The Messiah Complex to make a case to why us Liverpool fans need to expect less of our managers. That we should judge Klopp solely on football performances instead of, as we tend to do, expect him to be some kind of larger-than-life philosopher king in the mould of the great Bill Shankly.

I felt that the cult of the manager at Liverpool was becoming a burden that eventually caused good managers to crumble (or, in the case of Rodgers, spout lazy middle management lingo in an apparent attempt to coin quotes for a fan group that hangs on to the manager’s every word).

Well, Jurgen Klopp blew that idea out of the water. His first public appearances as Liverpool manager may have been what the political geeks would call a game changer. To devastating effect, the smiling German in turn charmed, urged and teased reporters, fans and competitors, annihilating several long-standing dogma of the club.

I once heard a philosophy professor say that paradoxes aren’t solved - they simply evaporate when new information or perspectives appear. What Klopp achieved was akin to making a highway motorcycle crash worth of scar tissue vanish. Here are the paradoxes that are no more:

The committee vs. the manager

Since Gillett and Hicks nearly ran the club into oblivion, blame-shifting has been an ugly part of Liverpool FC’s culture. It’s public appearance can be dated back to Rafael Benitez’ comments after the 2007 Champions League final loss against AC Milan where he, in typical equivocal fashion, complained about not being able to sign who he wanted to. While it later became obvious that his dissatisfaction was entirely vindicated, the outburst set the tone for an unbecoming tendency where managers have seemed to spend a lot of time explaining why failings weren’t really their fault.

The latest example has been the resource squandering catfight between Brendan Rodgers and the transfer committee. After wasting unprecedented sums of money, it seems obvious that the two sides have been busy spoon feeding the press off-the-record, trying to take responsibility for successes and blaming the other party for failures. Klopp exposed and killed that false paradox with ease: 

“It’s a crazy discussion. It was not a problem for 10 seconds. I’m not an idiot. It’s enough that I have the first and the last word - in the middle we can discuss.”

History vs. the present

Other teams’ fans love to slam Liverpool fans for living off past achievements. With the 25 year anniversary of the last league title having passed, even the most rose-tinted Kopite will grudgingly acknowledge that the proud shine of the club’s history is getting an ever dimmer glow.

In fact, instead of past success being a positive fuel for the players’ confidence, it seems more often than not to turn into a millstone around their necks. This writer would even go so far as to say that it contributed to the rushed anxiety with which Liverpool approached the pivotal, and ultimately devastating, clash with Chelsea in the spring of 2014.

Therefore it was significant that Klopp, without belittling the club’s great history, called for it to be set aside.

“History is the base for us. It’s not allowed to take the history in the backpack. You have to come in our race. I want to see the first step next week but not always compare with other times.”

Your players vs. my players

Every recent manager coming into the Liverpool job seems to have had a need to emphasize just how big a rebuilding job was needed before success could be expected. This downward managing of the expectations can be both wise enough and, with the state of the club for much of the past 25 years, fair enough. But you don’t have to be a psychologist to figure out that it might just make the current players feel a wee bit demotivated to hear words like that. And, again, it conveniently shifts blame for poor performances to previous managers.

Klopp seems to want none of that, thankfully:

“I believe in the potential of this team. There are four or five strikers I can work with, experienced defenders, the goalkeeper is really good.”

Cynicism vs. romantism

It is not without reason that a certain amount of cynicism has infected Liverpool fans. The last 20 odd years have seen enough false dawns to last a lifetime and during the darkest days of Gillett and Hicks it seemed that one had to be a corporate lawyer/accountant to be able to have a meaningful opinion about the club.

In addition to, and probably partly because of, that the atmosphere inside Anfield has, by most accounts, been in terminal decline for years. Whether due to the lack of success or the increased ticket prices and ensuing higher frequency of overseas fans (such as myself), the home fans are regularly being out sung by the away supporters. As TLW Editor Dave Usher has noted, it hasn’t stopped the club marketing the “famous Anfield Atmosphere” making it all come across a bit hollow and phony.

Indeed, the club’s default position is how great the fans and atmosphere are. The cringeworthy interviews on the official site with new players and managers arrive never fails to bring up a few questions designed for praising both fans and atmosphere. Refreshingly, Klopp tackles that conundrum from a slightly different perspective, encouraging the fans to help the team in a more constructive manner.

“Stop doubting and start believing. Now!” as he said with a big grin while looking straight at the LFC TV camera.

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I fully appreciate the irony of how this blog post now contributes to the exact opposite of what I originally intended it to do. Well, shucks… I want to believe again. I want to feel that fire burning in the belly and not care one bit about spreadsheets of corporate accounts, net spending or Expected Goals ratios.

At the same time, Klopp shouldn’t be sanctified just yet. Just like Barack Obama shouldn’t have been presented the Nobel peace prize in expectation of what he might do.

Klopp isn’t a saviour for Liverpool just now and shouldn’t be treated as such. However well he has talked and however welcome his words are, at the end of the day only one thing will matter: The team’s performances.

And I am sure that both Klopp’s admirable optimism and the fans long-worn patience will be tested to the limit, as getting Liverpool FC back to the top wont happen overnight or be painless. (And, boringly enough, the owners’ willingness to pay competitive wages to elite players will be a prerequisite for sustained success.)

Just the same, I am certain that what we saw last week was a turning point in Liverpool’s post 1990 history, as false dilemmas were exposed and accountability was reintroduced. A line has been drawn. Now it is up to the players, the fans, the manager and the owners to ensure that this opportunity for a fresh start is seized so that the club can live up to its full potential once again.

Niels Overgaard