FSG as important as Klopp

SERIOUSLY, who doesn’t love the guy? Even Manchester United supporters have a sneaking regard for him. Listening to him speak for a few minutes will put you in good mood. It just will. That’s the force of personality he has.

Watching him tear up last Thursday evening when Liverpool were confirmed as Premier League champions, it was hard not to think that without him none of this would have been happening and, of course, it wouldn’t. Jürgen Klopp was the missing ingredient. The final piece of the jigsaw. The catalyst for it all.

Understandably he’s taken the lion’s share of the credit for Liverpool’s 19th league title, more even than the wonderful squad of players he’s gathered around him. He’s the figurehead, the spiritual leader of a club, a city and a worldwide fan base. He’s warm, he’s witty, he’s inspirational. He represents everything that the romantic in us wants to believe makes the difference in sport. And we’re right. It does. To a point. Yes, Klopp was the right man in the right place at the right time, but without the right owners making the right decisions at the right times none of that would have been the case.

Bolt Klopp onto the dog days of the disastrous Hicks and Gillett regime and he would have disappeared without a trace. For Klopp and the Kop to flourish together the right conditions had to be in place and the people responsible for that are the Fenway Sports Group.

Principal owner John W Henry and his chairman at Liverpool, Tom Werner, have transformed the Anfield club over the last ten years. FSG took Liverpool from being a venerable – if moribund – institution to one at the cutting edge commercially and scientifically. Sponsorship income has soared during their tenure. Matchday income likewise. For the first time in a generation Liverpool’s operational and financial clout matches their stature in the game. For the first time in a generation Liverpool are leading the pack, not struggling to keep up.

Liverpool’s success in the transfer market has been nothing short of astonishing. For a relatively modest net-spent, the Reds have constructed the best team in world football (although perhaps not yet the best squad). The appointment of Michael Edwards as sporting director in 2016 has been key to this. It really does take a village and, the thing is, nobody understands that better than Klopp. That’s what makes him such a brilliant coach and motivator. The Swabian is all about the collective endeavour, the unity of purpose.

FSG have been good for Liverpool. They’ve been good owners and, unlike say the Glazers at United, they’ve added value to the club. This win is theirs

as much as it’s Klopp’s.