Carragher column: Klopp is a gift to the Premier League

Benitez and Gerard Houllier - Liverpool's only other foreign manager up until this week - were adored and lauded at Anfield but, outside Liverpool, they were not particularly loved. They were very successful at Liverpool but it is rarely recognised in the rest of the country as people didn't get them in the same way they did Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho.

Houllier and Benitez just didn't have much charisma so the man on the street didn't warm to them.

Jurgen Klopp is different. He came across as charismatic and confident on Friday morning, cracking jokes, inspiring confidence and unable to wipe that huge smile off his face.

Klopp appeals to a wider audience than did Benitez and Houllier and I'm sure people up and down the country will have taken an instant liking to him. He is not just an appointment for Liverpool but for the whole Premier League. When Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea the first time, I couldn't help watching him, eager to hear every press conference. Despite the fact we were competing against him in the league and those famous Champions League semi-finals, I developed a soft spot for him and I'm sure I wasn't alone.

I imagine the same will happen with Klopp. People will hang on his every word. He can make Liverpool box-office again. Everyone will now be watching Liverpool.
This is a real statement from the club. Two of Liverpool's previous three managers came from Fulham (Roy Hodgson) and Swansea (Brendan Rodgers) while the other - Kenny Dalglish - hadn't been in management for a long time.

In the last five or six years there was a fear that Liverpool could not attract the absolute top players and managers, but if Barcelona or Manchester United had been looking for a new boss last summer Klopp would have been in the reckoning, so Liverpool have done very well to get him.

Klopp has two Bundesliga titles and reached the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund and that is a real fillip for a club who have won just one trophy in the past nine years and qualified for the Champions League once in the past six. Liverpool's players will buy into what Klopp says because he has been so successful. When I played under Benitez I didn't agree with everything he said but I believed a lot more of it because it seemed wrong to question him when he had a proven track record, winning titles with Valencia - an amazing feat in a league boasting Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Liverpool's squad will feel the same about Klopp and the rest of the Premier League might be casting an envious eye towards Anfield. When was the last time other top clubs were envious of Liverpool's manager?

At the start of the season few thought Liverpool had a chance of making the top four - it seemed hard to see past last season's quartet of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal. But Chelsea's poor start to the season and continuing unrest will have them looking over their shoulders. There will be a slight fear around the top teams in the country that Liverpool could snatch fourth.

The question now is whether Klopp can replicate the style and passion shown by his Dortmund team. Everyone loved watching them because they were fast, aggressive and exciting.

Without spending much, Klopp took on the might of Bayern Munich at home and Real Madrid in Europe. Neutrals were always desperate for them to win and now the hope is that he can do the same for Liverpool.

It won't be easy and will take time. The squad isn't among the Premier League's best and Klopp emphasised that he is not a magician. The players will be really keen to impress him, though.

The entire squad would have been glued to their televisions on Friday morning watching their new manager and thinking: 'I can't wait to play for this man.'

Source: MailOnline

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