'It's going to be some ride!'

Jürgen Klopp delivered a masterful performance on his unveiling as Liverpool's new manager at Anfield.

For 28 minutes the charismatic German coach had the world's media, who were packed into the Reds Lounge in the Centenary Stand, and the millions of fans watching across the globe enchanted.

This was box office with humour, humility and ambition in equal measure.

It began with an apology. “I have to say sorry for my English,” said a beaming Klopp, who took his seat alongside chief executive Ian Ayre.

After a four-month sabbatical following his departure from Borussia Dortmund, Klopp spoke about how the bright lights of Anfield had lured him back into football.

“It's the biggest honour I can imagine,” he said. "It's a good moment to come here and I feel very proud. The people here live football. It's a special club.”

The 48-year-old revealed how he had dreamed of managing Liverpool when he gazed at the Kop on his first visit to the stadium with Dortmund for a pre-season friendly against the Reds 14 months ago.

“I wondered what it would be like,” he said. “I am a lucky guy.

“I'm a football romantic. I love all the stories. Anfield is one of the best places in the football world.”

Klopp moved quickly to dispel any talk of how the club's much-maligned transfer committee could be a potential source of friction during his tenure.

He dismissed it as a “crazy discussion” and said “it wasn't a problem for 10 seconds......I have the first and the last word on transfers.”

Rather than speaking about the need for hefty investment, he eulogised about his belief in the under-achieving squad he has inherited from Brendan Rodgers.

"This is a great club with a good team. There is a lot of potential. Everything is there,” he said.

“We will start to play very emotional football. Let's start a new way. It's the perfect moment. I believe in the potential of this team. Now we need to work.”

Klopp vowed to turn both players and supporters from “doubters into believers”. On this evidence it won't take much.

A keen tennis player, he dealt with everything that was served in his direction.

If Jose Mourinho is 'The Special One', how would you describe yourself?

“I'm the normal one,” he hit back.

“Just a normal guy from the Black Forest.”

However, Klopp is anything but normal. He's the man who transformed Dortmund from Bundesliga also-rans into domestic champions and the most exciting team in Europe.

Now the challenge he has embraced is to repeat the trick at Anfield.

“Please give us time to work on it. Please be patient,” he said.

“I don't say we have to wait 20 years, if we're sat here in four years then I hope to have won one one title.

“If not? Maybe my next job will be in Switzerland.”

That trademark chuckle made another appearance.

Succeed and he will be one day be mentioned in the same breath as Paisley, Shankly and Dalglish – but he insisted securing that kind of iconic status isn't a motivating factor.

“I don't think about being a legend here, I work in the present,” he said.

“It’s not important what people think when you come in, but what they think when you leave."

This was some start.

Source: Liverpool Echo

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