Liverpool chairman hails Klopp impact after Premier League triumph

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner lauded the impact of Jurgen Klopp after the manager led the Reds to their first league title since 1990.

Klopp’s Liverpool ended a 30-year wait to be crowned English champions thanks to Manchester City’s 2-1 Premier League loss to Chelsea on Thursday.

Liverpool sealed the drought-ending triumph with seven matches remaining, having narrowly missed out by one point to City last season.

Werner hailed Klopp, who took over in 2015 and oversaw Liverpool’s 2018-19 Champions League victory.

“I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing or watching the great football of [Bill] Shankly and [Bob] Paisley, so I don’t really want to compare Jurgen to previous managers,” Werner said. 

“I just know that the league is extremely competitive and when we first became involved in Liverpool over 10 years ago, we were not even thinking about winning the league. Our dream was to just become top four and make it to the Champions League. 

“He has just created such an atmosphere at Liverpool that there’s no alternative except to win. He has created such an atmosphere. 

“They understand how important it is to be self-confident on a high, high level but not overly confident that you think you are more important than others. Because without the others, we are nothing.”

A special interview with our @premierleague winning manager, Jürgen Klopp 

— Liverpool FC (Premier League Champions ) (@LFC) June 26, 2020

“One of the things that I’m just joyful about whenever I watch the team is how many players contribute. It doesn’t just lie on the shoulders of our wonderful striker or our wonderful goalkeeper. 

“So many players contribute – from [Jordan] Henderson to [Roberto] Firmino, to [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain, to [Georginio] Wijnaldum, to Fabinho, to [Virgil] Van Dijk. 

“I also enjoy their joy because I saw a video of them last night celebrating together and you could just feel the camaraderie that this club has. We celebrated this as a club.” 

“All of us were so delighted because this has been a long march,” he added. “I know that our supporters struggled for 30 years to reach this pinnacle. My first thought was to just share that moment with our supporters because without them, the club is nothing. 

“As Jurgen said, our supporters provided such an incredible contribution to winning the league – not just this year, but every year. 

“My hope is that all of us who are supporters of the club can take a moment today and this week to safely celebrate what is a remarkable achievement.”