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“We have to change from doubters to believers. Now.”
These were the words of Jurgen Klopp on his first day as Liverpool boss, and it is a message that the players and the supporters have fully absorbed.
The Reds have gone from a team who were languishing outside the top six to one that has just won the Champions League – their sixth major European Cup.
You can relive Liverpool’s Champions League celebrations in glorious 2D thanks to the guys at 442oons in the video below…
Klopp also oversaw a club-record points haul in the Premier League last term, although the 97 points earned weren’t enough to snatch the title from Manchester City’s clutches; it would’ve secured the title in every other season (excluding 17/18) since the Premier League’s inauguration.
A number of players have made visible strides under Klopp, but none more impressively than Divock Origi.
The Belgian actually started the German’s first game in charge of Liverpool, a 0-0 draw away to Tottenham, despite featuring sporadically in the team under Brendan Rodgers previously.
Rodgers doubted him, but Klopp believed in Origi.
The scrawny young Belgian who rocked up on Merseyside from Lille as a teenager looked weak, ponderous and unfulfilled in his early days at Anfield, appearing to doubt himself every time he stepped onto the pitch.
As Klopp’s tenure went on, however, Origi visibly appeared to make improvements in his game.
Firstly, he bulked up. A lot.
The forward put on four kilos of muscle after Klopp told him to start playing ‘like a man’, and even had to swap his kit for a bigger size as a result.
Confidence in his game, most notably his directness and faith in his dribbling ability, followed.
This was a player who had gone from being a skinny youngster to a real powerhouse of a forward, and one who started to believe in his ability despite not getting consistent first-team football at Anfield.
His desire to keep going and make an impact when called upon, even if it was just ten minutes at the end of the game, has seen him notch some huge goals this term – Origi netted late winners against Everton and Newcastle, as well as a tie-winning double against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
His powerful low strike in the final against Tottenham, which was confidently taken after a nice first touch, rubber-stamped the victory and cemented his status as a Liverpool cult hero.
It is rather romantic, and fitting, that Origi’s first game under Klopp came against Tottenham and contained a nearly moment in which he hit the bar, whereas his crowning moment in a red shirt came against the same team and finished very differently indeed.
The skinny teen has come full circle at Anfield, and is finally playing ‘like a man’.
