Since Jurgen Klopp took over at Liverpool in 2015, the team has gone from strength to strength, and they’re now just two wins away from their first English top-flight title since 1990.
Although success may have been expected, perhaps demanded by both the board and the locals, there was something else that the German dreamed he would achieve whilst in charge at Anfield.
“We have a few clear rules how we want to play, how we want to defend, where we want to defend, where we want to pass,” he said to Western Union and cited by the Daily Star.
“It’s not that we have a book and give it to read it, then you know it. These are the kinds of things; how lively are we? How positive? How brave? Absolutely important for the boys, through all the ranks and through all the teams.
“Is a 10-year-old too young for it? I’m not an expert. It’s not that intense actually, it’s just a specific way. But 17, 18, 19, 20 you are for sure old enough and that’s exactly the moment.
“My dream was always that we can play in any random shirt but if you watch us playing you say, ‘Ah, that’s Liverpool.’ The identity is that clear that everybody would say ‘Oh, that’s Liverpool.’ That’s what we try.”
Although the ending to the 2019/20 Premier League campaign will be like no other, and the Reds were tailing off just a little before the lockdown meant a premature stoppage to the season, there’s no doubt that Klopp’s men deserve their title.
Coming on the back of an epic Champions League success, which in turn was after a season where they’d made the European final only to see Real Madrid take the win, it’s clear that the club are doing something right.
Even if the silverware was to dry up, it could be inferred that as long as Klopp sees an improvement in terms of the way in which his team are working, and as long as they still have that recognisable identity, he’ll be happy.