I have experienced love in my life. Some may say that puts me ahead of the pack straight off the bat. I tend to agree with that line of thinking. But this story is not about my take on love and what it means to have loved and lost or to have never loved at all. I merely mention the fact that I have experienced love simply because that was what yesterday felt like.
With just one smile, just one look, just one word, I was well and truly Kloppified.
There is a lot to like about a manager that basically comes out and tells the world, that things at Liverpool just are not that bad. The transfer committee, the squad, or current league position relative to the rest of the league. However, it is not simply the fact that our new manager has said these things that makes the difference, it is the fact that Klopp has said these things. Klopp speaks and everything in the world just seems better.
The press want to ask him questions, he wants to train, the press want photos, he thinks they are ridiculous.
“I am the normal one.”
Say that out loud to a room full of people expecting some kind of MadHatter, say that out loud to a worldwide audience of people that have already proclaimed you as an icon-in-waiting and all of a sudden, the very fact that you are the normal one, makes you quite extraordinary.
Expectations, be damned. Klopp ain’t having any of that nonsense, I just want my team to play football, I want them to feel it in their gut, I want them to give everything they’ve got every single game and then at the end, we will see where we end up. Simple. Normal. Expected? Kloppified!
One of the most endearing aspects of Klopp’s press conference was the way he insisted that what is important is the way fans will feel about him when he leaves, rather than how they feel about him today. It was a brilliant line, it made sense, it told everyone that this is just foreplay, the real thing will happen every week for 90 mins and it will continue throughout the season, for hopefully many seasons to come and if Klopp’s charisma can singlehandedly bring an entire global fanbase to their knees, begging and pleading for just one smile, just one wink, just one laugh than I dare say, you would be hard-pressed to find any player at Liverpool FC that would not want to the same.
After all, being Klopp’s friend he tells us is a good thing, because he is an extremely loyal guy and as far as this fan is concerned, I want to be much more than his friend, I have after all been Kloppified.
