Klopp’s learnt way to glory

IF any one of Jurgen Klopp’s many qualities can be said to have underpinned the revolution he has overseen at Liverpool, it is surely his eagerness to learn.

That attribute certainly came in handy when the German first took charge of a club close to three decades without a league title.

And he set about trying to understand the sporting reasons behind that painful fallow period.

Klopp (above) also made no secret of his desire to study the psyche of a historic institution bearing the emotional scars of years of disappointments.

Consequently, his first weeks in charge were spent not only implementing a fresh tactical blueprint on the training pitch, but also using smoking breaks at Melwood to quiz non-football staff on exactly what the club meant to them.

And that thirst for knowledge, allied to a willingness to defer to others’ expertise, has been the cornerstone of the rise he has plotted.

Take, for example, the Reds’ widely derided appointment of a throw-in coach in 2018, a move that has vastly improved their variety and ball retention from a situation that occurs around 40 times a match on average.

Or consider Klopp’s decision to invite a group of neuroscientists in to help improve his players’ penaltytaking last summer, which has since been rewarded with two shootout successes in finals.

These inspired calls are not just evidence of an openness to new ideas, but also a keen eye for detail, which is exactly why the 54-year-old was allowed to play such a key role in choosing the specifications of the club’s new world-class training facility at Kirkby.

That contribution, in particular, means that, when Klopp eventually leaves Liverpool, his legacy won’t be restricted to a trophy cabinet that has already seen every available major honour added. That said, opportunities to measure on-pitch progress will continue to crop up before then, and there is perhaps none better than the upcoming Champions League Final clash with Real Madrid.

When these two clubs met in this same fixture in Kyiv in 2018, it felt much like Liverpool had arrived slightly ahead of schedule, thanks to a gung-ho approach favoured by Klopp early in his reign.

And, while a Mo Salah injury and two inexplicable mistakes from Loris Karius grabbed the headlines, the absence of subtlety and maturity in the Reds’ game felt just as much to blame for their defeat.

A disagreement over how that nuance might ultimately be added proved the catalyst for the departure of Klopp’s longtime lieutenant and pressing advocate Zeljko Buvac that summer. But, true to form, Klopp simply put his trust in Buvac’s replacement, the returning Pep Lijnders, to lead the creation of a new, less physically demanding tactical framework that has provided the foundation for every subsequent success.

Unfortunately, the progress made on that front was not particularly evident during last season’s meeting with Real in the quarter-finals of this competition, which saw an injury-ravaged Liverpool punished.

But further intelligent Klopp tweaks – including the adoption of an AI-led injury-prevention tool and the additions of Ibrahima Konate and Luis Diaz – have allowed his team to scale new heights this season.

So, Liverpool go into a final-day shootout for the title with the FA and League Cups already secured, and with an opportunity to secure a seventh European Cup, courtesy of a long-awaited victory over Real on the horizon.

But, whether the Reds get their revenge in Paris or not, Klopp’s very nature means his pursuit of perfection is unlikely to end there.