Jurgen Klopp

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The Occam’s razor explanation as to why this slight and snappy paean to Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp works: Anthony Quinn is a delightful writer writing about a delightful subject. Quinn, well known as a novelist and film and literary critic, has been a Liverpool fan since his Huyton youth (a brief flirtation with Celtic, based only on their attractive kit design, aside). Klopp, meanwhile, the big-smiling, perma-baseball-capped, witty and erudite club manager, is someone who even opposing fans – and those who have no interest in football – admire. If you are in four competitions at this stage and only finish with two - and not the league or Champions League - you will be disappointed." There are a few areas in the book where more detail would have been interesting. The section on the type of player Klopp looked to sign was very interesting but I would have like more detail on why certain players were signed – what was it about Lewandawski that made Dortmund pull the trigger for example when he was overlooked by other clubs? And he's also good at protecting his players: “The Liverpool boss also reminded his men again about the pact he had made with them shortly after coming into the job in October 2015. ‘When you win, it’s down to you and when you lose, it’s down to me,’ he had told them in a bid to ease unspoken concerns about the new, complex and very demanding playing style.” Reading this reinforced that an autobiography is far more interesting as you get to see inside the mind of the subject rather than getting an observer's, irrespective of how close, perspective in a biography.

He is an enigmatic character and has developed a type of play that seems to have worked at the club's he has managed. It is the intensity of the football, of how the people live football in Liverpool, all the Liverpool fans around the world. It is not a normal club, it is a special club." Jürgen Klopp I found it fascinating how his Dortmund team lost some of their drive after 6 years of his management, not dissimilar to what Liverpool are experiencing now. 2021/22 will be a fascinating year as to whether Liverpool can regain their oomph as neither Mainz nor Dortmund managed it after losing their mojo. After finished reading this book, sometimes it kept me wonder whether Klopp fully applies the theories being stated in the book; when you can sense in games he did not apply them thoroughly. The Aston Villa boss told BT Sport: "Liverpool didn't do a lot wrong, just came up against a top goalkeeper and defence. Liverpool will dust themselves down and go again for everything next season."The book itself is very personal and intimate with lots of interviews from the people at the heart of the life and career of Kloppo. It gives a great insight to the man inside the manager. It is easy to see how he can motivate the teams to go above and beyond.

I tried to set out why Jurgen and Liverpool, not only as a club but as a city as well, are a match made in heaven.

The Monday Night Club discuss whether Jude Bellingham is England's best talent since Paul Gascoigne, after he was named best young player at Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony. There’s also an interlude given over to a scene from The Flight of the Phoenix, when really a sentence to make the analogy would do. But nobody is faultless for a full 90 minutes, and when he compares the demeanour of managers in post-match interviews to those being questioned under caution, all is forgiven. This is what I love the most about him. The never give up mentality and the attitude of standing up every time you fall. Because, at the end of the storm, there is a golden sky. Whenever he speaks, you can sit down, listen carefully, and take the food for thought. Imagine if you are making research and writing about him every single day for nine consecutive months. I just could not stop the process.