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| Jurgen Klopp |
German coach Jurgen Klopp has been confirmed Liverpool manager
on Thursday in a deal worth a reported $6.1 million a year.
Former Borussia Dortmund boss Klopp is understood to have
signed a three-year contract with the Premier League giants and succeeds
Brendan Rodgers, who was sacked by Liverpool's American owners Fenway Sports
Group on Sunday.
"Liverpool Football Club are delighted to announce
Jurgen Klopp has been appointed as the club's new manager," the club said
in a statement on their official Twitter account.
"The German coach has signed a deal to take the helm at
the Reds and will be presented at a press conference at Anfield on Friday
morning."
Klopp, whose first game in charge will be against Tottenham
on October 17, arrives with Liverpool languishing in 10th place in the Premier
League.
The 48-year-old will be presented at a 0900GMT press
conference on Friday following a whirlwind week at Anfield that started with
the abrupt conclusion of Rodgers' reign and ends with the significant coup of
securing one of Europe's most highly-rated managers.
Klopp is said to have agreed to a three-year contract under
which he would be paid more than £4 million pounds ($6.1 million) a year, and
it is safe to say he will have earned every penny if he can restore Liverpool
to their former glory.
Klopp comes to Liverpool with a lofty reputation after
leading Dortmund to two Bundesliga titles in seven years, while finishing as
Champions League runners-up in 2013.
However, Dortmund struggled last season, finishing seventh
in the Bundesliga and losing the German Cup final in Klopp's final game in
charge before he quit at the end of the season saying he wanted a sabbatical.
Klopp, famous for his passion for heavy metal music, had
twice before rejected Liverpool's advances and ironically he arrives on
Merseyside with the club's talent pool at its lowest ebb for some time.
As a result, the German has a major task on his hands to
rejuvenate a Reds squad that has suffered badly from the exits of stars like
Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling in recent years.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Expectations for success remain high among supporters of a
club who have won 18 English titles, seven FA Cups and five European Cups.
But Liverpool's relative lack of investment in comparison to
their main rivals has seen them fall off the pace both in the title race and
the battle to qualify for the Champions League.
Rodgers also reportedly had issues with having to make
signings with the input of the club's "transfer committee" – scouts
Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter, analysis guru Michael Edwards, FSG's Anfield
representative Mike Gordon and chief executive Ian Ayre – and Klopp will have
to find a way to avoid similar problems.
Despite the potential pitfalls lying in wait, former
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, now in charge of the England national team,
offered Klopp his congratulations.
"We wish him well," Hodgson said. "It's a
club business when clubs change managers, but I welcome Jurgen to England and
wish him the best with making Liverpool the top team that the owners want them
to be."
Rodgers became Liverpool manager in 2012 after joining from
Swansea and guided the Reds to second place in the Premier League in 2013-14 as
they narrowly failed to win the English title for the first time since 1990.
But his failure to win a major trophy during his reign
proved fatal and he was sacked by the American owners after a 1-1 draw against
Everton that left Liverpool with only four wins in their 11 games in all
competitions this season.
Klopp is expected to bring in Bosnian Zeljko Buvac, his
assistant both at Dortmund and Mainz, and coach Peter Krawietz as key members
of his backroom staff.
Several of Rodgers' coaching team – including Gary
McAllister and Sean O'Driscoll – left Liverpool on Thursday as the club cleaned
house before Klopp's arrival.
McAllister, a former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder, has
accepted an ambassadorial position with the Reds.
Source.upersport.com
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