I feared Anfield would

THERE was a time, not too long ago, when thoughts of Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool left Jerzy Dudek unable to shake a nagging sense of foreboding.

For one of the heroes of Istanbul, Liverpool’s last European success, his was a fear rooted in the unthinkable.

Dudek, left, had seen close up the slow unravelling of Brendan Rodgers’ reign, though the former Poland goalkeeper concedes recognising the need for change was the easy part.

“I was scared they would miss out on Klopp,” he said. “I was scared maybe Arsenal would take him before us.

“I spoke to Polish internationals Robert Lewandowski, Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski, who all played under him at Borussia Dortmund. They all said his mentality with the players, transmission to the supporters and knowledge of the game was so good. This is the right man for Liverpool.

“I felt the team was not progressing any more. I was at the Real Madrid game in the Champions League last season. It was like a kids’ game. Now, when you see what Klopp has done and how he is at the end of the game with the fans, you see enthusiasm and passion. Everyone is engaged.

“He has the knowledge. He did it in the Bundesliga. He got the experience with Mainz and then won it with Dortmund and you can’t question him.”

It is hope, bubbling ambition and expectation that Klopp now embodies. Tomorrow offers the chance of silverware and with it another step in restoring the club’s standing.

Liverpool’s season promotes all sorts of parallels for Dudek with 2005 when an evening which initially plumbed the depths of despair transformed into the night of his life. That