Looking back at Jurgen Klopp's tenure at Liverpool

When Brendan Rodgers had led Liverpool to a second-place finish in 2013-14, the next year Liverpool fell to sixth and went out of the Champions League in the group stage. Thus, the Reds brass decided a change was needed, and they turned to the charismatic face of “heavy metal” football in Klopp. And, um, the team finished eighth in the league. Hey, an adjustment was expected! Also, Raheem Sterling had left for Manchester City and Steven Gerrard’s tenure as captain came to an end as he headed into paid retirement (aka MLS). Liverpool did finish as runners-up in the (then) Capital One Cup and also in the Europa League.

Klopp needed to get the pieces in place for his brand of football, and a couple of key cogs in his time at Liverpool arrived prior to the 2016-17 season. No, we aren’t talking about Ragnar Klavan. Liverpool added Georginio Wijnaldum and, crucially, Sadio Mane. The Reds finished fourth, which isn’t great, but was a major step forward, and it got them back into the Champions League as well.

Liverpool finished fourth again this season, and actually dropped from 76 points to 75 points. That being said, this was the turning point in Klopp’s tenure with the club. After this season, Liverpool would be viewed as one of the best clubs in the world again. A trip to the Champions League final, where it lost to Real Madrid, played a part in that, but it’s really about the roster moves Klopp and company made. Philippe Coutinho transferred out to Barcelona, and with some of that financial influx the club went out and added Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. Those stand as two of the best transfer moves…ever?

The Reds were incredible this season. They lost all of one game during the Premier League season. Liverpool’s 97 points were the third-most in league history. Unfortunately for Liverpool, one of the two teams to finish with a higher point total was Manchester City, who did it that very season as well. Yes, Liverpool had an all-time campaign and didn’t win the league. Not all was lost, though. Liverpool returned to the Champions League final, and this time it won, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0.

While Liverpool had three losses this season, after losing all of one the season prior, it picked up its win total from 30 to 32. Thus, the Reds finished with 99 points. Finally, Klopp and Liverpool were able to get past Manchester City and win the Premier League. Alas, this was the 2019-20 season, which ran smack dab into the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant fans weren’t really able to enjoy Liverpool's title win with the club.

This was kind of an unremarkable campaign for Liverpool, but given how weird the world was at the time, it’s kind of forgivable. It wasn’t a bad year, by any means. Salah scored 22 Premier League goals. The Reds made it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. They also finished third in the Premier League. After two incredible seasons, though, this was just kind of…a good year from a great club.

You could make a case — we stress a case — for this being the best season Liverpool had under Klopp. The German manager took home two new trophies, winning both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. On top of that, the Reds finished with 92 points and were runners-up in the Premier League, and they were also runners-up in the Champions League, losing to Real Madrid again. So, do you go with the season with 97 points and one trophy? The season Liverpool won the Premier League? Or, this season, with two Cup wins and two runners-up turns? We’ll leave that one up for debate.

Well, you can’t sugarcoat this season. It was a tough one for the Reds, possibly the worst for the club under Klopp. The Reds had some big games, including a 7-0 win over Manchester United. However, Liverpool dropped down to 67 points and finished fifth in the Premier League. That meant no Champions League football. After this season, Robert Firmino, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Naby Keita, James Milner, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all left. Clearly, change had come to Liverpool.

As far as a farewell season goes, Klopp’s proved to be…acceptable? Look, obviously Liverpool’s squad would have loved to send the now-iconic club manager off with a substantive trophy. While the Reds did win the Carabao Cup, that’s kind of like a college basketball team sending off an iconic coach with an NIT win. It’s better than nothing, but not what you want. Liverpool did climb up the table and finished a strong third, which is definitely good if not a title win. The real disappointment was in the Europa League, where what was predicted to be a march to a finals matchup with Bayer Leverkusen instead saw Liverpool ousted by Atalanta in the quarterfinals. Klopp and company had a good year, but it was no “Last Dance.” Still, clearly the German manager left the club in a much better place than he found it.