Feared getting the boot in my first year at Liverpool, confesses Jurgen Klopp
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he was terrified he might get sacked in his first year with the Reds as they struggled to produce on the field. The former Borussia Dortmund manager replaced Brendan Rodgers at Anfield but initially struggled to get the best out of the team.
While Rodgers had taken the Reds as close to a title as they had ever reached before Jurgen Klopp’s tenure, the years after that were terrible for the club. They struggled to cope after losing Luis Suarez and furthermore, failed to properly replace the Barcelona striker. That saw Brendan Rodgers and his coaching staff eventually sacked with Klopp replacing the now Leicester City boss.
However, nothing went according to plan in the German’s first six months as Liverpool boss with the Reds truly struggling to play his style of football. Yet things eventually changed and Klopp admitted that he actually feared getting sacked in his first year at the club. The German admitted that he had to ask Liverpool’s owners for time to transform the club, which they eventually gave him.
"It was clear we cannot fix it overnight. Everyone wanted that but we couldn't so I had to ask for time, I knew. Before that in my career I never got the sack so I had no experience with that, but I knew then it was a different level, and if I can't deliver here quick enough, then I will get the sack. We got that time and the nice thing is that after six, seven, eight games, they were really positive about the situation, they realised we were on the right path. From that moment they didn't question it one second," Klopp said on Sky Sports' Football Show.
But while things did change in the league and in cup competitions, Liverpool still failed to win anything despite Klopp leading them to three finals in three years. That includes a Europa League final, an EFL Cup final and a Champions League final with the Reds losing all three as the pressure continued to build from the outside. But internally, there was never any pressure Klopp admitted as the owners had complete faith in him and the project.
"They were full of faith and trust, and they said the path we will stay on, and everything will be fine. That's what we did then. When we lost finals against Sevilla or City or Real Madrid, I think pundits say: 'If he doesn't win the next one then they might change.’ But internally it was never somebody thinking like this," Klopp added.
