OpinionLiverpool are unrecognisable from Jurgen Klopp’s first game in charge in 2015 – Tottenham aren’t, and that’s their problem
- Just three members of the squad remain four years on from German’s first game in charge
- Spurs still have eight of the personnel from that game at White Hart Lane in 2015
When Jurgen Klopp made his debut as Liverpool manager with a 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in 2015 things were very different. The Reds were in a state of flux while Spurs seemed on the path to success. In the end, all Tottenham got out of the next four and a quarter years was the best stadium in the world while Liverpool became the best team on the planet.
Klopp’s side return to the Lane on Saturday as world champions. They are reigning Champions League winners and have a 13-point lead in the Premier League with a game in hand. A first domestic title in 30 years is in their sights. How remarkable has the turnaround been? It is worth recalling some of the pundits’ thoughts before the former Borussia Dortmund coach’s first game in charge.
Mark Lawrenson assessed the squad, which was not only undermanned but ravaged by injury. “The revolution, if you want to call it that, is going to take a while to start happening,” the great Liverpool defender of the 1980s said.
“Let’s not get carried away,” Danny Murphy, an ex-Anfield midfielder, agreed. “Klopp is not Jesus. It’ll take time for him to put his stamp on this team.”
They were both right but Murphy underestimated the German’s capacity to act as a saviour – at least within the narrow parameters of football. Klopp generated a quasi-religious zeal among Kopites from the moment he arrived on Merseyside but the 52-year-old has repaid that faith by rebuilding the team in his own image. The Liverpool he found was a club going nowhere that had invested trust and cash in the wrong players. Fenway Sports Group, the American owners, still entertained fading hopes that Daniel Sturridge – injured, of course, for that Spurs game – would become “the face of the franchise.” More realistic observers thought Philippe Coutinho was the one player that Klopp could build around. The Brazilian would play a key part in Liverpool’s future but not in a way anyone could imagine in 2015.
Only three of the XI that started against Spurs are still at Anfield: James Milner, Adam Lallana and Divock Origi. None are close to being first choice in the side that is currently dominating the English game.