The best of Jürgen Klopp: The games, the trophies, his quotes and ...

But for Liverpool fans, he meant much more than that due to his style of heavy metal football and his personality.

Here, we look at Klopp's top moments in charge of the Reds from his best games, his trophies, and his quotes as well as his legacy which Arne Slot will look to build upon.

Best games

Liverpool 4 Barcelona 0

(Champions League semi-final, second leg, May 2019)

The era-defining match of Klopp's reign. Trailing 3-0 to Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and co, the chances of recovering were remote, especially without two of their famed front three in injured duo Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.

However, replacement Divock Origi wrote his name into Liverpool folklore with the first and last goals, sandwiching two from half-time substitute Georginio Wijnaldum, as Anfield witnessed its greatest night.

Liverpool 4 Borussia Dortmund 3

(Europa League quarter-final, second leg, April 2016)

This Klopp comeback was relegated to second place by the Barcelona heroics but it still remains a remarkable night. The tie was delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in Germany only for the visitors to score twice in the first nine minutes on Merseyside.

Origi gave the hosts a lifeline just after half-time only for Marco Reus to put Dortmund 4-2 up on aggregate with the advantage of away goals and 33 minutes remaining.

Philippe Coutinho and Mamadou Sakho set up a grandstand finish which was completed by Dejan Lovren's added-time header.

Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0

(Premier League, March 2023)

The very essence of a Klopp team performance: United were blown away by six goals in 38 second-half minutes as Liverpool registered the biggest-ever win against their arch rivals.

Cody Gakpo's goal just before the interval was a prelude to what was to come as Salah, Darwin Nunez and Gakpo all finished with two apiece with Firmino adding the seventh - and it could have been more.

Liverpool 3 Manchester City 1

(Premier League, November 2019)

A game which reinforced the belief a first league title in 30 years would finally be secured. Liverpool already led reigning champions City by six points after just 11 games.

Two early goals in quick succession from Fabinho and Salah had Anfield rocking and, when Sadio Mane headed home just after the break, there was no way back for Pep Guardiola's side, who scored a late consolation through Bernardo Silva.

Liverpool 4 Manchester City 3

(Premier League, January 2018)

This may have not been as productive in terms of the end result as the win over City the following season but it was a victory which set the tone for Klopp's head-to-head title battles with Guardiola. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drove home early, Leroy Sane equalised just before half-time only for City to be blitzed by three goals in nine minutes from Firmino, Mane and Salah, before Bernardo and Ilkay Gundogan's late goals made for a fraught ending.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (left), manager Jurgen Klopp (centre) and Virgil van Dijk celebrate after the UEFA Champions League Semi Final, second leg match at Anfield, Liverpool.

Best quotes

"Does anyone in this room think that I can do wonders? No. I'm a totally normal guy from the Black Forest. My mother is very proud. I am the normal one." - At his first press conference in October 2015

"When I sit here in four years I'm pretty sure we will have won a title." - The same first press conference, October 2015.

"You have to change from a doubter to a believer." - Another opening press conference classic, October 2015.

"I told the boys before it was impossible, but because it's you boys, we have a chance." - What he told the dressing room before the famous 4-0 Champions League comeback against Barcelona in May 2019.

"If you go out there and ask who bet a penny on us, I don't think you'll find a lot of people." - After completing the Barcelona comeback, May 2019.

"A f***ing bunch of mentality monsters." - After two late goals against Southampton, April 2019.

"We are still Rocky Balboa, not Ivan Drago. It's not about being the underdog, not one little bit. I don't want to be the underdog. I want to win, and Rocky won." - Ahead of the start of the new season facing the challenge of Manchester City, August 2018.

"We will wait for him like a good wife waits for her husband to leave prison." - After Virgil van Dijk's season was ended by an ACL injury in the Merseyside derby, October 2020.

"If you had Wikipedia or Google and put in 'European nights' the answer must be: Anfield." - May 2018.

"One of my biggest goals in life is to make Jose smile - it doesn't happen very often" - Talking about his then Manchester United rival Jose Mourinho, July 2018.

"Even the guys selling hot dogs (at Anfield) need to be in top shape for Sunday." - Before the visit of Manchester City, a match Liverpool would go on to win 3-1, November 2019.

"If goodbye is not tough then your time together is not worth it." - Speaking about Georginio Wijnaldum's impending departure, May 2021.

"These young players are our future. If we handle them like horses we get horses." - On England Under-19s treatment of Jordan Rossiter after he returned from international duty with a hamstring injury after three 90-minute performances in six days, October 2015.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp enjoys the post-match celebrations as the team receive the Premier League trophy after the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool.

Statistics

Win record

Klopp arrived in October 2015 as Brendan Rodgers' replacement and while he made a low-key start in a goalless draw with Tottenham, securing draws in his first three games overall, it was the precursor to one of the club's most successful eras.

He has won more than 60 per cent of his 490 games in charge - with one to come - and provided Liverpool's greatest Premier League performances since the competition's rebranding.

They won the 2019-20 title with 99 points, just one fewer than Manchester City's record 100 two years earlier, while their 97 as runners-up in 2018-19 is the most for any team who did not finish as champions.

He is one of only seven managers to win over 200 games in the Premier League, with his record currently standing at 208 out of 333 games. The names above him on that list are Sir Alex Ferguson, with a record 528, Arsene Wenger (475), David Moyes (269), Harry Redknapp (236), Pep Guardiola (224) and Jose Mourinho (217).

Klopp will finish with 491 games in charge in all competitions and will narrowly miss out on 300 wins, with Aston Villa substitute Jhon Duran's late brace in midweek keeping him on 298 and adding a 109th draw to go with 83 losses.

Trophy cabinet

That league title and the 2018-19 Champions League stand out as the highlights of Klopp's Anfield reign but success has come in all competitions.

Victory over Tottenham in Madrid, following a spectacular semi-final fightback against Barcelona, brought his first trophy with the club and the following season saw Liverpool win the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup and then the Premier League.

A domestic cup double in 2021-22, winning both finals in penalty shoot-outs against Chelsea, allowed them to also add the 2022 Community Shield.

A second Carabao Cup followed this season but defeat to Atalanta prevented Klopp from adding an eighth different trophy in the Europa League, having also lost the 2015-16 final to Sevilla.

Goalscorers

Darwin Nunez scored the 1,000th goal of Klopp's reign in March's 5-1 Europa League win over Sparta Prague, with their total now standing at 1,033 after the 3-3 draw with Villa.

Mohamed Salah leads the way with 211, with his long-time strike partners Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino the other men in three figures on 120 and 111 respectively.

Sixty-three Liverpool players have scored goals under Klopp, from Emre Can bagging the first goal of his reign in a 2015 Europa League clash with Rubin Kazan to Jarell Quansah in his penultimate game in charge.

Wins

Liverpool great Klopp will finish with the second-highest win percentage of any manager in Liverpool's history and fourth in terms of trophies won with the club.

The German has won 60.8 per cent of matches and will finish just short of Sir Kenny Dalglish's 60.9 per cent across two spells, and narrowly ahead of the club's formative managerial partnership William Edward Barclay and John McKenna who won 60.6 per cent from 1892 to 1896.

Only Bob Paisley, with 20 trophies including six league titles, Bill Shankly (11) and Dalglish (nine) rank ahead of Klopp's trophy count with the club.

Legacy

Belief

Klopp's assertion he had to turn "doubters into believers" at his first press conference has proved to be a success.

A first league title after 30 years - something else he predicted at his unveiling - ended an interminable wait and adding another Champions League trophy has restored pride and showed Liverpool could compete with Europe's elite again.

Competitiveness

In the years between Liverpool last winning the league in 1990 and Klopp arriving in 2015, the club had just four second-placed finishes under four different managers. However, they finished seventh or eighth five times in that spell.

Klopp, facing the most dominant Premier League club of the era with vastly superior finances and one of the all-time great managers in Manchester City, has an average finish of third for his eight full seasons, winning the league once and missing out by a point on two occasions.

Three Champions League finals in five seasons have underlined that consistency. And seven trophies.

Squad strength

Having won every trophy except the Europa League with a squad assembled over four years it was evident the natural life of that group was coming to an end.

Klopp could have left after the struggles of last season but he stuck around to oversee the rebuild. A whole new midfield of Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch provided the necessary rejuvenation and only a poor fortnight in April derailed another title bid.

The new man is set to inherit a team which has Trent Alexander-Arnold enjoying his prime years, with Virgil van Dijk back to his best and Mohamed Salah continuing to consistently produce, not withstanding a blip after injury at the turn of the year.

Academy progression

Part by design, part by necessity, Klopp's promotions from the academy have produced a number of successes. Alexander-Arnold is the benchmark for that, but of the current squad Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley and Curtis Jones are all success stories.

Harvey Elliott is not technically an academy graduate but, having already made over 100 appearances at the age of 21, is already vastly experienced and starting to find his feet in the first team.

The likes of Tyler Morton and Stefan Bajcetic, and just starting out Bobby Clark, James McConnell and Jayden Danns, also warrant a mention.

Fan power

Klopp will always be criticised for not winning enough with the squad he had at the peak of their careers, but for supporters the drama and excitement of the journey over almost nine years is what has re-energised them.

Klopp's ability to connect with the fanbase and speak to the ordinary man in the street undoubtedly helped power some of their greatest achievements.