How Klopp delivered an impressive performance at press call

It was a remarkable performance from the new manager, the most impressive, incredible introduction at an Anfield event like this in 25 years. During that time, I have witnessed eight hopefuls come blinking into the flashing melee, eight new men at the helm all charged with the task of delivering the glory that had once been a birthright.

Souness was the first, a small gathering a million light years away from the glitzy, heavyweight event, crowding around a compact oak table to hear how the Reds legend planned to continue the dynasty passed through Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish.

With Klopp, there was no dossier, nothing obviously prepared even, everything seemingly off the cuff. Asked what type of manager he was, asked what personality he is as a football person and a man, he shifted in his seat and said he didn't want to describe himself. He wanted to let his work speak.

For all his ease on Friday, for all the way he had an enchanted media eating out of his hand with a natural, enigmatic performance that suggested he knows exactly what he is doing - both as a performer in front of the cameras, and in charming people – there was a bottom line. This is a man with beliefs.

He doesn't need to document it, he didn't even try hard to clarify it, and often protested he didn't want to talk about it. But intensity just about sums it up. This is a man with real intensity, and he will clearly expect it from others, both fans and colleagues.

Pinned down, he issued one memorable soundbite after another, making it difficult to single any of his words out. Yet in this sentence, there was the promise of real intent: “It is not so important what people think when you come in, it is important what they think when you leave.”

After witnessing every single one of his predecessors arriving right back to Souness, I also viewed their departures. Houllier even called a press conference to say goodbye, which was one of the saddest spectacles I have ever witnessed in football, given he was a genuine, proud man, who deserved better.

In each, there was a sense of the defeated. Rodgers came into that category, his last press conference barely two hours before he was sacked a clear signal that he felt the end had come. That he could bear the burden no longer.

It is easy to say now of course, after such an impressive performance from such an impressive man, but you get the sense that Klopp can be different. Note the can, not a will, because this job can defeat even the greatest of managers.

Clearly though, the German has a sense of occasion about him, and a sense of destiny too. Maybe that is something we have not seen before at these events over the past 25 years. There was another sentence, when asked what he hoped to achieve.

“Please give me time,” he said with that enigmatic smile. “But if we want, this can be a special day.” No further words can better that, nothing more needs to be added.

Source: Daily Mirror

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