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Daily Liverpool - Doubters to Believers
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Happy Monday everyone!
Connor takes the wheel on today's episode. With Doubters to Believers finally dropping on Prime last weekend, join Connor as he takes a look back on the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool - discussing the makings of a modern club legend, the stand out moments from the documentary, and how he built the foundations to this season's (hopeful) successes.
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Transcript
Introduction to Klopp Documentary
00:00:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello and welcome to the Daily Liverpool Podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. Today's the Monday Review Show and with the Reds having a pretty rare weekend off thanks to Plymouth, ah we thought it best to keep the good vibes going and good feelings around the club going by reliving some of our last era's highlights.
00:01:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
On today's episode we'll be covering doubters to believers. a documentary all by our beloved former manager Jurgen Klopp. It's just dropped on Prime. You can catch it on
Klopp's Early Career and Rise
00:01:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
there.
00:01:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's a four-part documentary series that kind of focuses on you know the liver his Liverpool legacy, but also kind of also touches on how he became a manager, his playing career, a little bit of mine, the kind of person he is.
00:01:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
Some of the talking head interviews they get are phenomenal. And I think it's structured in ah in an interesting way. So like I mentioned, it's four episodes long.
00:01:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
They're all about around 40 minutes, 45 minutes long. And what I really like is that they kind of, it's almost like there's two timelines. The first one is Klopp's journey at Liverpool and then the second timeline, which is kind of interspliced with that and kind of, re you know, re re reinforces, I should say, um some of the narratives that are happening in the first timeline, the Klopp timeline at Liverpool, you get his career ah before that. So you get, it starts off with his playing career.
00:02:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
It starts off with the kind of manager he was almost destined to become. You know, the first episode is titled Accidental Manager. which I think is really funny because, and it's something I didn't know, how he becomes the manager ah his first club, Mines, which he was a player at. He was a striker, actually, who wore number four, which I don't know how I feel about that.
00:02:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
but there's something about it that kind of makes sense. He has that build that's almost centre-half-ish, and it looks like, you know, not to jump too much ahead about Liverpool sign-ins and players that Klopp brought in, but it's kind of given Stephen Cocker up front, you know?
00:02:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah But apparently he
Significance of 'Doubters to Believers'
00:02:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
was really quick. You know, you see him score a few a few good goals in there. There's just something about it that looks kind of cool. But yeah, you see him at mine's, you see him eventually become the manager, following a pretty funny story that Klopp himself tells.
00:03:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And then you kind of also get, what I find really interesting is the foundations of of that Darters to Believers, that title of the documentary, um that kind of aphorism that's become so wedded to Liverpool fans, myself included.
00:03:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
you kind of see the foundations of it begin at minds. So for instance, and you guys will know this, if if you've listened to the podcast before, um you'll know that i'm a I've mentioned a few times that I studied film, did a master's and an undergrad and ah here in Liverpool. I'm still based here.
00:03:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
um I love documentaries. I love sports documentaries. especially about football, but you don't really get good ones. And I was very skeptical about this, but let me just tell you right now, top line review, is it better than the Brandon Rogers, we are Liverpool or being Liverpool, whatever it was called, a hundred million gazillion percent?
00:04:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes, it is.
Klopp's Transition to Liverpool
00:04:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
So don't worry about that. um But I was, I was, I was thinking about this daughters to believers thing. And I mentioned that the foundations are kind of,
00:04:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
the foundations of that being so wet at the club and thus Liverpool and thus us kind of begins at minds because they are are a team in the second division, this fight of Bundesliga and they,
00:04:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
They just have something about them where they they kind of feel like they belong in the Bundesliga, but there isn't and enough quality there. The former manager isn't isn't doing so well. The football is boring.
00:04:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
Klopp is a player. i think it's a game against Wolfsburg. like they um It's a battle for promotion. And he kind of gives this on-pitch conference afterwards, this on-pitch discussion afterwards to a reporter.
00:05:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
there's really passionate speech where he says that like, we just weren't good enough, but it's one of those. ah And it's kind of like you see the resilience and the we we'll go again thing.
00:05:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Transpires, obviously that they weren't very good the next year. The manager gets sat, Klopp gets brought
Narrative and Key Moments
00:05:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
in. People think it's a, it's joke, but very, very quickly do people start to realize like, Oh, something's here.
00:05:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you know, he might not be the most tactically astute manager at that time, but he has something. And he mentions, i think quite sweetly, they were a team of friends, you know, and it also talks about David Wagner's talking head in the documentary. He features quite a bit, uh, often publicized that he was Klopp's best man and Klopp's best friend, but also a pretty good manager in his own right.
00:05:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Also a player at Mainz during the same time. And again, There is something to be said for somebody who keeps the people important to him around him.
00:06:08
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and knows, you know, knows the importance of it. Um, so the fact that he's featured, I think it's really sweet. There's a ah German musician whose name I can't remember. I think it's Campino, uh, is the artist name.
00:06:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
He's featured quite a lot. He's in a very funny video. i don't know if people must've seen it following the real Madrid defeat in the champions league final for Liverpool. They sing this song about Madrid had all the luck and he's in the video along with, uh, Peter Krawitz. It's pretty funny.
00:06:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
Um, But yeah, ah something about that mind's time, I just find it so, it's like you get to see the foundations of something before they're fully realized.
00:06:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And that goes for him as a manager too, because You eventually see him move to Dortmund, grow again. All the stuff that happens to Dortmund grows again, goes
Resignation and Impact
00:07:01
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on holiday, comes to Liverpool.
00:07:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
And as we all know, in the in the recent era is is easily the best Liverpool manager that we've had. i'm And for for me anyway, probably the most important figure at a football club in the Premier League that I can remember.
00:07:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
Especially, obviously, I'm biased being Liverpool fan. But anyway, we can we can get on to Liverpool stuff a bit later on. I do also want to talk a little bit about how this documentary opens, because it's no...
00:07:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
you know it's It's not a coincidence that it opens with the day of Klopp announcing his a decision to step down, which again, easily one of the biggest moments in my Liverpool supporting career.
00:07:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
i remember exactly where I was. i remember how I felt when the news broke. um for context I i've mentioned before I live in Liverpool I was in my old flat at the time and before me and my partner moved in together she was at my house I went for a shower ah came i and I've also mentioned before with my my girlfriend supports Everton I came up the shower and I was getting I was drying myself whatever and she said
00:08:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
Klopp's been sacked or Klopp's been fired or something like that. And I was like, okay, good one. Klopp's gone or something like
Klopp's Leadership Qualities
00:08:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
that. And I was like, yeah, oh yeah I'm sure he is. Okay. yeah And I'm the next Pope or something like that.
00:08:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And then she said it again and and I was like, okay. So I checked my phone and being a a diehard red, obviously follow all the Liverpool accounts, Paul Joyce, Mel Reddy, James Pierce, all the breaking news people. um And it was confirmed. And I just thought like,
00:08:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
you know, i felt shell shocked. it was It was insane. I've i've never had that where you look at your phone and there's breaking news and you think, oh my God, you know.
00:09:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And I think for a lot of Liverpool fans, it was really It felt like a pivotal moment, obviously. i mean, that the greatest manager in their recent history has announced he's leaving.
00:09:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then I remember being quite, I just couldn't understand it. I thought something has happened and you see his press conference and he says his game, his managerial prowess is is based on having the energy to be able to transmit that to his players.
00:09:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
And it takes all of them. And if you don't have that energy, if you can't give your all, you need to leave. And I think like the, the ability to, to be, to look inwards, to be that reflective and real high is like, I'm doing this for the greater good.
00:09:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
it it doesn't get talked about often enough. And even if Arnest Lark came in and he wasn't the revelation that he is now, I think,
00:10:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
that decision from Klopp is still so important and it really should be heralded because how often do you see managers stay on longer than they should, or i think knowing when to leave anything,
Authenticity in Klopp's Portrayal
00:10:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
whether it's a job, whether it's whatever friendship, whatever is so important and being able to do that on the biggest stage with all the pressure,
00:10:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
loving the club, loving the city and just saying, you know what, I'm not going to be able to do this. I think is a real testament to the kind of money is. And also there's quite a few moments like that to come up ah further in the documentary.
00:10:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
So I guess in terms of structure and in terms of the way that's all laid out, I find that it really helps reinforce these key messages, these key points. um And don't worry, I'm not going to get all film critic nonsense on you.
00:11:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But I love this saying, the medium is the message. It's how things are transmitted. And it's not what you say, but how you say it. And I think Klopp is a master of that, you know.
00:11:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
And listen, he's he's he obviously admits in the documentary, there are times where you know, he might not have conducted himself the best where he lost a temper, where he was really aggressive towards officials.
00:11:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I don't ah condone any of that. I don't, I don't think that's good at all, but there is something for the way he speaks to his players and you do see that. So I mentioned that you're not really going to get the kind of inside scoop on his exit or dressing room fallouts or any of that stuff.
00:11:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
But what I do think is really important is you see those little moments that help you realize like, oh, the kind of person that we think this disk man is, I'm seeing it now.
00:11:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
And listen, he's a very media savvy person.
Challenges and Growth at Liverpool
00:11:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And obviously it's a documentary that is ah you know distributed by Amazon, but put forward by the club as well. they're obviously going to spin it in a positive light.
00:12:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
Um, and he's obviously going to be able to make himself seem like the best person ever because he's a manager who's been in the media for years. Um, but it still feels genuine to me. And I think that's really important.
00:12:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
um and Again, I kind of mentioned it a little bit. I love, I love the throwbacks in it. So the time at Mainz is time at Dortmund. You see the emergence of some players that I just think like, wow, how have we forgotten about that?
00:12:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
Those Dortmund, those early Dortmund times where Klopp talks about the first time he sees Mario Götze at 16 years old and thinks like, oh my God, who is this kid? He is, he's legit. Yeah.
00:12:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
and One that really stood out to me, though, and like i I've mentioned before, I'm a huge football manager fan. i used to love playing FIFA, too, when I was younger. Seeing Nevin Subotic, whatever his name was, in that Dortmund yellow kit.
00:13:02
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God, that's just so cool, you know? and it may Maybe um maybe i'm ah um I'm looking back with Rose stinted glasses, but there's something just that, it tickled that nice little nostalgia part of me.
00:13:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah I loved it. I loved the throwbacks. And I mentioned the way that the documentary is structured. You kind of get throwbacks to where Liverpool were at that time too. So during this incredible rivalry, that the kind of era one of Klopp versus Guardiola of Dortmund versus Bayern of all these players of all, you know, Lewandowski and Goetze going to Bayern.
00:13:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
You get incredible, these incredible matches in the Champions League and the cup in the in Bundesliga too. We also get to see where Liverpool were at. And...
00:13:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
you know, it was a dark time, man. It was a dark time. We had Brendan Rodgers at the helm. Liverpool were, how should I say, i think maybe ahead of, i don't know if that's right. They were ahead of something.
00:14:09
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And I think maybe it's themselves, you know, I don't think they should have been
00:14:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
anywhere near title challenging really but something clicked that year in 13 14 and everything was going really well and they just have to do it they have to do it they show the uh the infamous gerrard slip against marinho's chelsea and i just remember being was
Team-Fan Integration
00:14:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
11 years ago and i remember being 16 the heartbreak of it i remember the lazar markovich of it all the you know the martin skirt all of it all just the It just wasn't, it wasn't, it doesn't look like the kind of title winning team that we are now accustomed to.
00:14:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
um and there were so many incredible moments in that, in that season. And it's one of those where you look back on and you think if we had to suffer this to get the end result of clock coming in, would you still do it?
00:15:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
And like I mentioned, I was, it was 11 years ago. I was 16. It was a pretty rough time being 16 anyway. um But being 16 and having your heart broken by football, and something you can't control for the first time.
00:15:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
Although the Fernando Torres sale also broke my heart a little bit. but um Yeah, it it just it hit a lot that time. i remember I remember it was the first time being really devastated with football. Yeah.
00:15:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think if I knew then what was to come, I would have easily washed my hands of it and said, yeah, I'll take three more of those. Go on. Let's see what happens. um Because it does, the part, you know, episode one ends with Clark joining Liverpool, having that speech, Daughters to Believers.
00:15:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
And there is something to be said for, I've mentioned that it's something that kind of feels wedded to Liverpool now. I am such a pessimist and Jesse and the boys often joke about how I'm the pessimist of the group when it comes to football.
00:16:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
But I, I can't help but almost romanticize a little bit too, because it just feels like, obviously this is the title of the documentary. This could almost be a sign on the, you know, at Anfield somewhere or um the training ground, like Dighters to Believers feels so,
00:16:29
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It's such a short piece of, it's like such a short aphorism that really hits home. um And the Daughters to Believers thing kind of perforates the whole entire documentary.
00:16:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
I find it really interesting when Klopp comes in on his second day, ah him and Pep Linders, a baby-faced Pep Linders, by the way, who wasn't assistant manager at the time,
00:16:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
The first thing they do is they go to the academy. They get to see some of the young players playing there. And obviously all the focus is on Trent Alexander, a young Trent Alexander-Arnold wearing number five with the armband on.
00:17:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
And just the quality of this kid, like he stands out. You see it in the footage. He's quicker, he's stronger. The way he runs with the ball is is just so um impressive.
00:17:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
And there's a bit where Klopp talks quite warmly about Trent and you just think like, oh, okay, this
Transformation Under Klopp
00:17:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
is the making of something. He mentions, I mentioned earlier, or sorry, when talking about Mario Goetze at Dortmund, he was like, he says this thing of, you know, eat this kid's 16, can he play in the Bundesliga? And you think immediately he's got Trent kind of earmarked as there's potential here for, he could jump into.
00:17:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But, you know, you'll remember just like will, the first season under Klopp, well, the half season when he comes in and the first proper season, it isn't all perfect. We get to some really good moments. You know, there's the Europa League final, and,
00:18:07
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but there's still something around Liverpool that doesn't feel right yet. It doesn't feel, hasn't fully clicked. Not everyone is buying in. So they, ah again, quite painfully show,
00:18:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
Another throwback to a game against Crystal Palace in his first season. And believe me, I hated Crystal Palace back then. Partly because of the whole Cristian Bull thing, um which is pretty funny. i will I will give them credit for that.
00:18:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah I quite like Palace now for what it's worth. But um yeah obviously Scott Dan scores the winner. And there's a bit where Klopp goes into the post-match press conference after losing to Crystal Palace and says he feels alone, like the fans left before the game was over.
00:18:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
he felt like they kind of left him there. And what's the point in his team fighting if the people aren't believing in his team to fight, you know? And he kind of gets across this message that everything is integrated.
00:19:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
The team should be integrated with the fans and the fans should be integrated with the team and the managers just to kind of sit alongside that somewhere too. And also the club above should also be kind of integrated with it as well.
00:19:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
there should be buy-in on all fronts, basically. And I think it's very interesting that immediately after that, they show the West Brom to all at Anfield, where they come back. I think Divock Origi scores the equalizer.
00:19:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
And Adam Lallana's in the documentary, and he mentions, like, I think it was kind of embarrassing. He's basically saying, this was this kind of sucked, but Klopp felt so happy that
00:19:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
the fans stuck by them and that the team performed for the fans, that kind of symbiotic relationship felt like that was the kind of embers of it, of that of that fire starting there. I think when I look back on that time, i remember, um, I've mentioned before when, when live in here and Liverpool and go into uni here, one of my best friends here is a massive man United fan.
00:20:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
And i remember him and another friend giving me grief because of the draw and because it was kind of, they probably said cringe or it was probably embarrassing or something like that.
Emotional Bond with Fans
00:20:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
Um, And looking back on it, I think I, I can see where they're coming from, but I was immediately bought into, cause I've never seen that before. Um, and it felt like, like I said, integration, it felt like there's buy-in and all fronts here and the team go and clap the fans, the fans clap the team off.
00:20:41
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And I wonder you guys, if when you're listening, you you can let us know on socials or by email in, um What moment really sticks out as the kind of catalyst for everything?
00:20:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
Obviously there's more than one, because I think this Liverpool go through so many versions, not just in terms of personnel, but also in terms of approach, in terms of opposition they play, competitions they play in, goals they try and achieve.
00:21:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
I wonder what do you think kind of sparked it all? Because for me, there isn't, we don't get the Anfield turnaround against Barcelona if there isn't this game, you know, um you know, you can completely tell me I'm wrong here, but if we don't get that equalizer against West Brom, if we don't clap the fans off and the fans don't clap us off, do we get that?
00:21:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm not too sure. I'm really not too sure. You can let me know what you guys think. Um, but I think what really the thing that I'm interested interested in the most as somebody who, you know, loves football almost as much as I love Liverpool, which is quite a lot, um, is that intangible relationship and is the emotions of all and is the, the things that you can't touch and you can't see, but you can feel them, you know?
00:22:06
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I think, um Again, obviously I'm biased. I think there is no other club in world football that has that, really, the same way that we do. They're going to have their own version of it.
00:22:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
But the way that Liverpool is... the way that we feel about the fans, the way the fans feel about the team, the way that the city feels about the red half of the city feels about the club, the players, the way they feel about ah all things football and high Liverpool are situated within that, I think is just so special.
00:22:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
And, Would anyone else but have been able to connect like that? There are some incredible managers ah during the time that Klopp was at Liverpool that came into the league or we saw in other leagues that maybe might not have been the right fit for the team they were in, but went on to do good things.
00:22:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I wonder... Is the club at Liverpool just the most match made in heaven thing ever? You know, I'm not too sure you guys can let me know.
Elements of Liverpool's Success
00:23:08
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um Like I said, yeah, you guys can let me know, but um going to take a quick break and you can hear a little bit more from one of our sponsors.
00:23:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
So I mentioned a little bit briefly about, I mentioned about how the West Brom thing was kind of a turning point for Liverpool. They don't spend a lot time on that in the documentary because there's so many moments. There's so many ups and downs and and highs and lows and big performances and terrible results and all of that.
00:24:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But there's something about the collective buy-in, I think. I keep saying that, the buy-in, that the that relationship that kind of makes the tough moments easier to bear, you know?
00:24:24
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It feels like the highs of a cup win are that much greater because you get to share it with people just the way that the pain of... I think about the Real Madrid, you know, the Laura's Carrius game.
00:24:38
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i should actually say the Gareth Bale game because what a goal and what a moment. um The pain of that, I mean, I remember what it was like, but to be able to share that with a fan base that also gets it just like you get it,
00:24:53
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It lessens the load a little bit. And, um you know, there are some incredibly big heartbreaks in there and some massive performances, massive wins, all that stuff.
Coaching Style and Player Development
00:25:03
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um And there was some like, the way I see it is.
00:25:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
how many footballing careers were kind of gilded and bolstered by being able to play for the club Liverpool side. that That was just incredible, you know?
00:25:21
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um And this, this is a little bit of an exercise for people listening. and I'd love to know who, who do you think, what stands out from the early era, the late era? So not just that I mentioned the West Brom being like the catalyst, but also i want to know,
00:25:37
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give me a match that stands out or a player that stands out or a result that stands out or like a specific, even a specific moment, you know, because I'm not one to shout out other podcasts on here.
00:25:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
Um, and I won't spend too much time on it. I listened to the ripple effect quite a lot and I'm very interested in the things that are, you know, the ripples that come from these tiny, that might seem like small and in inconsequential moments.
00:26:03
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I always wonder, you know, I wonder how that you know how that would shake out if it played out a different way. um And for me, I think the carriers thing is huge. They don't spend that much time on it, which is a bit of a shame because I feel like he had a really tough time following that game.
00:26:20
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But what thing I do really like, I think, is in episode three, um it cuts to modern-day Liverpool and we see Darwin Nunes miss a few chances. I think was against Chelsea.
00:26:32
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He takes a penalty off Alexis McAllister, hits the post, he smashes a header off the crossbar. um We also see him hit the post in an open net for some time.
00:26:43
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And i think I think this becomes even more clear now after some of the conversations that I've had on this podcast with Jesse and Louis and Azarish and Tom and the boys.
00:26:56
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and about Darwin Nunes, and even when we spoke in the group chat, what you read online, what other fans mention, there is so much vitriol around him. And listen, I've not been completely fair, I don't think, to him either.
00:27:10
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i don't think he's a, I don't think he's the sole reason that Liverpool um ah don't already don't have haven't won the league already, you know. But I do think there are times for him to improve. There's a great bit in the documentary where you see Klopp kind of take him under his wing and talk to him. and then it cuts Pep Linders, who, by the way, comes out of this documentary so well.
00:27:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
He just seems like... Such a good dude, you know, and he seems to really get it. I love that he, there's a bit where they play a paddle and I love that he, when he beats Klopp, he's, he's, he's taken the hand out of him and he's, he's really goaded him and just seeing that relationship is quite nice.
00:27:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
But there's a bit with him and Darwin Nunes where they're breaking down his game and they're talking about what he was like at Benfica, the goals and the assists that he get, the press and, and the intensity that he offers and what he can give to the team.
00:28:04
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And you kind of see like, okay, it isn't just ah isn't just you know buzzwords. It isn't just intensity to give know Pep Linders the title of his book here.
00:28:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
It isn't just you know saying words and not actually meaning them. They mean it. It does work for the team. You do have to give it all. You do win and lose as a team. And when the team wins, it's the team's responsibility and the team's, it's their chance to be
Resilience and Team-Building
00:28:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
congratulated. and when the team loses,
00:28:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Klopp takes on his back and I just think like you hear that all the time but I wonder what it would have been like to be on the inside inside those dressing rooms after some of the big results big defeats and seeing the difference and in contrast there's a great quote in the documentary where Klopp says the differences in ah between defeat and winning are the biggest in the world and he basically says something like it's like the distance between the moon and Mars and And I thought, that's quite nice. you know he
00:29:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
People often say that if he wasn't a football manager, he'd be a pretty gifted politician. He's definitely a very good orator and he knows how to speak properly. um But i find I find the whole relationship with the coaching staff and Klopp, that ability to kind of...
00:29:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
build a team build another team rebuild that team push them again go them they know they keep pushing them against constant setbacks time and time again after results go their way when results don't go their way i've mentioned some of the big heartbreaks that real madrid game was huge losing the title on 97 points is ridiculous will any team ever do that again i don't know And I mentioned intensity.
00:29:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's often a word that kind of underpinned that era. um And like it was Pep Linders kind of almost mantra. It's the title of his book. It's the kind of way that team was coached with Linders and Vitor Matos and Klopp and all those guys. Alex Inglethorpe in the academy really pushing these players to be you know, hungry and fight like hell. They keep saying fight like hell.
00:30:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
um but you could easily say another mantra, another word of wisdom to live by and something that kind of fits maybe in retrospect, but also in practice, I think when you see the matches in isolated events, like we kind of do sometimes in documentary is resilience. It's constantly striving to do better, to do more, to give everything and you know we We saw what it was like for players who've... It's like those Liverpool teams and you know other teams that Klopp manage, they kind of squeeze all the juice and energy and life out of some of these players.
00:31:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
Look at what happened when Liverpool's midfield, the legs just go in them. When Fabinho looks like he's you know playing in treacle every day. ah when Henderson, who was without a doubt instrumental, and I don't think he's covered enough really in it.
00:31:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
um He's in it a bit, but he's not really covered in it.
00:31:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
Those players who were just so intense and like kind of set the tone for what performances were going to be time and time again. Bobby Firmino, who... is almost like jack of all trades, master of none, but guess what? He's also ah master at almost everything else too.
00:31:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
you Just phenomenal, phenomenal football. Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson, Mo Salah when pre-injury Mo Salah when he was just like lightning quick. tour players to shreds you see resilience and constant ability to go again and go again and i've mentioned a few quotes now from um from the documentary another one i really like is after i think it's after the 97 point season where liverpool don't win the league klopp says something along the lines of
00:32:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
how sad of a life it must have. You must have, if you think you only have one chance at something. And I just thought, like I really took that from this. And it kind of sums up this Liverpool team resilience.
00:32:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
A great bit, again, we see from last season, that Carabao Cup final. Liverpool have 11 injured first-team players going into that final. Within a handful of minutes, Ryan Gravenberch, pre-emergence Ryan Gravenberch, gets injured, comes out of the team.
00:32:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think James McConnell comes on. Liverpool somehow battle against it, against the billion pound bottle jobs, by the way, ah to win that game.
00:33:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
Virgil van Dijk scores that header in extra time, wins that game. And ah you just think like the ability to lift all of those people around them stems from Klopp, stems from Linders, stems from all of it, stems from all of I should say.
Klopp's Legacy
00:33:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you kind of see that in Van Dijk too. And I think, ah, he is the perfect Klopp player, I think. And where he plays and his kind of lax attitude isn't really c cloppish in terms of, um you know, the things that are, the the kind of behaviours that you're expected, but the mentality is, and and I think that is that's probably been the foundation that we see now in where Liverpool are at, if that makes sense.
00:33:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
without that foundation of Virgil van Dijk at the back and that kind of ability to lift everyone else around you and be calm, but be composed, but be tenacious and win and perform in big moments and have the confidence to do so.
00:34:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
is really, really, really embedded in this Liverpool team. um And I mentioned that building and a constantly building. the I think the third episode is titled, The Kids Are Alright. And I just love that because there are so much... I mentioned the club's second day, he goes to the training grounds, to the youth academy.
00:34:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah There's so much of... Conor Bradley's in this, Jaden Danz is in it, Harvey Elliott features a lot. Like you get to see... the foundations of something. And again, talk about a testament to the kind of man he is.
00:34:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's all about building for the next thing. It's always about going again, even when he's not involved. I think that really sums him up. um And I think just quickly to wrap up, it's it's ah it's a weird one, you know, going down ah memory lane like that because,
00:35:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
Klopp loomed so large, like he is such an emotional manager and Liverpool are such an emotional club and city that when you're re-watching stuff like this, if you're a fan like I am um of a club like Liverpool and you're re-watching and reliving these moments, it kind of feels like
00:35:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
how do I say it kind of feels like you're looking back at an old photo album or something. um You don't just kind of look back at where Liverpool were either in their hunt for titles or in the, you know, you don't look back on where they were in the pits of despair following some of those horrible losses.
00:35:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
You also can remember where you watch those games. I mean, I do. I remember where I saw the Barcelona comeback, I remember who I watched it with you remember who you watch them with and also if you're like me whose entire early adulthood was underpinned by the Klopp era you kind of remember what person you were during those times so you might not love revisiting all of it like I did but it all kind of adds up and like Klopp's teams the sum of the parts is always more important than the parts themselves.
00:36:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And even the way the documentary has kind of been spinned, like when it first was announced, it was following the behind the scenes of Klopp's Liverpool pushing for a quadruple, which ultimately we know didn't quite work out.
00:36:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But now it's a retrospective on the man who shaped, reshaped and then built the foundations for his successor. And that's kind of indicative of the kind of person that he is. For my money, he is the perfect, he was the perfect man for Liverpool at the time and the way Liverpool were.
Optimism for the Future
00:36:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
and hopefully, you know, when we look back on the Arna Slota era, whenever that comes to an end, we can look forward to the next manager at the helm because like Klopp mentioned, and it sounds a bit saccharine almost, but like he has turned the fan base from doubters to believers. And I know that I am now, you know, I get, I said before, I'm always called the pessimistic one, but that's kind of just because I don't really want to suffer it again, but you know what?
00:37:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
Supporting Liverpool, I know that I'm going to have to, but I also know the good times are coming. Yeah. uh and look where liverpool are now you know i think the release of this documentary has been it's probably serendipitous but it's timed so perfectly because the emotion and the mood in the fan base was already at such a high and looking back on what kind of got us to where we are now and hopefully where we're going to go yeah just buoys that mood all over so you know what Things are looking good for Liverpool.
00:37:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But listen, I'm going to leave you guys there. Thank you so much for listening. Make sure you follow us on socials. um Please do get in touch through their socials or through emails.
00:38:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
i'll keep I'll put those in the description below. And listen, it's a huge month for Liverpool. So thanks for staying with us. Please do continue to stay with us.
00:38:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
And hopefully we can share another trophy win this season. Cheers, guys. Take care.