I never thought Klopp was ruthless enough, but then he ditched the weak links.. and turned an £8m kid into a world-beater

A CONFESSION: For as long as Alberto Moreno was leftback I wondered if Jurgen Klopp had the ruthlessness to turn Liverpool into a titlewinning team.

I always looked at the Spaniard and thought, ‘Damn, this is Klopp’s Achilles heel’.

He messed up several times, most notably in the 2016 Europa League final.

And I remember thinking back then, ‘Ooh, hang on. Is Klopp a guy who likes to play really good football, but someone who will be swept asunder by Pep Guardiola’s absolute insistence that every stone is turned to ensure his club does everything at full pelt on and off the pitch?’

Klopp’s answer to the Moreno problem was to replace him with James Milner and you’re thinking, ‘Well, that’s not a title winning left-back, is it?’

But the signings of Andy Robertson (left) in 2017 and Virgil van Dijk the following January saw the pieces of the jigsaw starting to fall into place.

And when he bombed out Loris Karius (circle) and replaced him with Alisson, Klopp showed he did have the ruthless streak the very best managers require. Within a year, everything had changed and both he and his team looked like they would stop at nothing to finally end the Reds’ wait for a Premier League title.

Sometimes in football, as in life, you have to have a bit of luck to go with your talent and already having Trent Alexander-Arnold at the club and growing into a world-class right-back was just that.

Nobody saw Jordan Henderson’s leadership, captaincy and strength of character coming. I certainly questioned whether he was a worthy heir to Steven Gerrard on and off the pitch.

And Klopp aside, because he put them together, nobody really thought Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino were going to dovetail in quite the way they have.

The way Klopp has done it all has been masterful.

Making the big signings work is impressive enough, but what he has done with Robertson is just brilliant.

Most of the top flight’s bottom five or six clubs at the time would have baulked at the £8million Klopp paid Hull for him. Yet the German took a jobbing young left-back and turned him into arguably the world’s best in that position.

Can you name me one Steady Eddie who has arrived at Manchester City under Guardiola’s reign and is now seen as the preeminent player in his position?

Klopp has worked wonders with individuals and collectively he has made that dressing room.

Everyone in that squad clearly loves each other and it’s obvious the manager has drilled home the importance of doing things properly and making sure there aren’t any cliques.

For it to have taken just under five years to get from where Liverpool were when Klopp arrived to where they are now as world, European and Premier League champions is an incredible feat.

You look at the players they have now and say, ‘Now that is a Liverpool squad’.

People fear playing them and their boss, someone who can now be talked of in the same breath as Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish.

There can be no higher praise bestowed on any Liverpool manager.