The story of the 10 games that defined Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool tenure
Jürgen Klopp’s Anfield journey ends on Sunday. Peter Krawietz, Klopp’s loyal right hand man over the past 21 years at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, spoke exclusively to Telegraph Sport to provide the inside story around the biggest games, the tactical tweaks and the pivotal moments of a glorious reign.
1. Tottenham Hotspur 0 Liverpool 0, Premier League
White Hart Lane, Oct 17, 2015
Our first game and our first 12.30pm kick-off! I remember that first team meeting and the boss giving his first great speech to the players.
“We are here to be winners. We will go for big targets, it will be a long journey, but it starts right now,” he said. He wanted an instant mentality change.
We arrived during the international break and had three days to prepare a game. For us it was new faces, a new building, a new country and new opponents.
The idea was to show our philosophy, but also learn as quickly as possible, and the first priority was to give the team a structure and organisation. We played a good Spurs team, led by Mauricio Pochettino and with a young Harry Kane. It was a tough one. Nil-nil, needing some great saves from Simon Mignolet. We knew right then how intense Premier League football was. Fortunately, the adaptation was quick.
2. Liverpool 2 West Bromwich Albion 2, Premier League
Anfield, Dec 13, 2015
After this game we all stood in front of the Kop to thank the supporters and we realised that the people here thought, ‘What? Are they crazy? Who celebrates a point against West Brom!’
In Dortmund we were used to taking the players to the crowd after a game to show our appreciation. As a gesture, Jürgen felt it was very important to do this at this moment. We knew we had to go on this journey together. We were saying that while we will do everything to entertain you, we need the support as well. We somehow felt that even though it was only a draw, the fact it was a comeback draw [Divock Origi struck the equaliser in injury time] this was significant because in an earlier game [a defeat by Crystal Palace] the belief was not there.
We obviously stopped doing it after this game because we recognised this was not the custom in England, and we didn’t want everyone to keep thinking we were acting crazy. But there was one more time we did this at Anfield… after we beat Barcelona in 2019.
3. Liverpool 4 Borussia Dortmund 3, Europa League
Anfield, April 14, 2016
The first time we felt the true power of Anfield – a truly special day. The feeling it could be like this began with the bus ride to the stadium, when the fans lined the streets in a way they would do before all the big European nights. It was like we had the wake up call on the bus. There was a feeling that this team, with these supporters, in this stadium can really achieve something. We were good in the game but 2-0 down at half-time, Dortmund killing our offside line with their really quick players.
At half-time, Jürgen told the players, “We are strong, and if we keep this up we will score goals, for sure.” We had already created chances in the first half. Then at 3-1 down, Anfield showed what was possible with togetherness, emotion and intensity. We wanted the players to bring this on the pitch, and the opponent to feel our power on and from the stands. Afterwards, we all said: “Wow!” We had similar moments in Dortmund and now we knew how Anfield could be.
4. Arsenal 3 Liverpool 4, Premier League
Emirates Stadium, Aug 14, 2016
We had to improve step-by-step while following the club’s philosophy of signing younger, interesting players who were not seen already as world class, but where you could see the potential to develop to become world class. In our first summer, Joel Matip, Gini Wijnaldum and Sadio Mané fitted really well. Gini developed into a brilliant all-rounder. He was so important to evolving our way of playing – intense against the ball, while bringing control to our attacks and having an ability to finish them off. He could do everything. And then, of course, Sadio gave the team ultra speed, his dribbling was unbelievable but he also defended with passion. He was a fighter.
This game was such a good one, but like a lot in that season it was a little crazy. We had big targets to go step by step and our definition of success in that first full season was qualifying for the Champions League. It was the biggest possible target for us in this period and we did it, enabling us to take a massive leap forward.
5. Liverpool 3 Manchester City 0, Champions League quarter-final
Anfield, April 4, 2018
This is the night which confirmed our identity, giving us another extra kick forward. Before playing Manchester City, you always know that you are playing a team that is so good with the ball, so you must be compact and strong. Whoever we played, our idea was to ensure we were sold defensively – always able and ready to win the ball – but most importantly we had to do that as quickly and high up the pitch as possible.
“Just because we play City, this cannot change. Be brave, be aggressive, keep working and running and do not get frustrated, even if they are pushing us deeper. Expect difficult moments.” That was Jürgen’s message to the players. In this game, we made a real statement.
This was one of those nights where Andy Robertson started chasing the opponent in minute one and never stopped even when he reached the goalkeeper. We scored early, and I remember Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain winning the ball high and rushing forward, banging in from 30 yards. We showed we could follow our idea no matter how strong the opponent. We did that in all the games against City, and the stadium – again – was outstanding.
6. Liverpool 4 Barcelona 0, Champions League semi-final
Anfield, May 19, 2019
The combination of what we could bring on and off the pitch had this greatest moment. Directly after the first leg when we lost 3-0, we all had the idea it was not the right result. We had played a good game, but they scored the goals. In the days before I had an optimistic feeling – I cannot explain it. We felt we could get in their heads. The Barcelona players would think they just needed one goal. We were searching for something to make the players positive and saw in the season before Barcelona had led Roma 3-1 and went out 3-0 in Rome.
I watched the game and analysed what Roma did. Edin Dzeko played a fantastic game, causing big problems, pressing high, forcing Barca to play high balls, causing Messi to ask his defenders, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Roma also scored from a corner.
You cannot plan to score four goals against Barcelona, especially without Mo Salah and Bobby Firmino. Divock and Shaq [Xherdan Shaqiri] summed up our idea to make everything about the team, not individuals. We always said: “There is a starting XI and there is a crunch time XI.” Crunch time can be after 60 minutes on a match day.
We thought, ‘Dzeko and Divock have a similar profile.’ In the team talk, Jürgen told the team we could bring them out of the sense of security. We made it happen in an unbelievable way.
7. Liverpool 1 Flamengo 0, Fifa World Cup Cup final
Qatar, Dec 21, 2019
If you experience this competition once, you realise how big it is, especially in South America. For the players, it really does mean the world championship. We really felt it and our South American players were so desperate to win. That made Bobby Firmino the perfect match-winner.
Bobby was such a natural fit for our vision of football. He was an unbelievable pressing player, so clever in the centre, defending from the front, never tired and the perfect role model. With the ball he was a centre-forward and midfielder in one. Opponents never knew whether to mark him as a striker or treat him like a central midfielder. We had some issues in the tournament with injuries and illness, but we stepped up in the final.
8. Leicester City 0 Liverpool 4, Premier League
King Power Stadium, Dec 26, 2019
Coming straight back from Qatar into the Christmas schedule was tricky. Leicester were high in the Premier League, one of the challengers, and we had to maintain a peak performance to prove we could win the Premier League. This win was of the highest level and gave a sign to ourselves and the outside world. We were ready to become champions.
The big problem shortly after was lockdown. When Covid came, the first report I saw from China, I knew the world had a problem. We played Atlético Madrid and then Bournemouth and felt, ‘This does not feel right anymore’ and all we could think was we all had to stay at home and protect ourselves. Nobody knew what was next. We hoped we would only have to wait two or four weeks to get back out there. Thankfully, we were able to start again and get the title the team deserved.
9. Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0, Premier League
Anfield, March 5, 2023
We had a really difficult season in 2022-23. The season before we went for all the titles, losing the league and Champions League in the last games. When we came back to training we could see something was not right. The long and intense season, with only two weeks off, did not give us time to reset and recharge. Then there was a World Cup in mid-season. Nothing felt right.
We had to start turning it around again and set new targets. This 7-0 was a great result, but can I be honest? I really did not like it too much. It was an outstanding event, but not right for Liverpool v Manchester United. These games should not be like this. The start of the game was 50-50, but then at a certain point Manchester United were not Manchester United anymore and we started flying. It was cool – and gave us a lot of happiness – but it was not a realistic result.
10. Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1, Carabao Cup final
Wembley, Feb 25, 2024
We always have our ideas for set-pieces and for most of the game Virgil went to the far post. We gave the players freedom to change, so for the last one Virgil went to the near post and it was obviously the perfect fit. It was a great moment, with 13 injuries before the game and more during it. We had all the young players out there and we did not expect what we saw. It was a fantastic moment and a big sign for the future.
It finished the perfect story over our 8½ years because we all know how much work goes into creating these moments. Now the timing is right for us to go, and give the next generation its chance. It will feel strange not being here next year, but we look forward to it as well. I see and feel Jürgen needs a break. I need a break as well. Saying goodbye and looking back at our time here, we see a good story with the right end. It was a privilege to be able to leave in this way.
