A tricky question but a valid one, since Jurgen Klopp has won everything possible except for the Europa League which could still happen this season.
Klopp arrived from Germany in October 2015, a decade ago, to revitalise an ailing and ageing Liverpool team that had come close to winning the league twice in the past ten years.
However, they were languishing in mid-table for most of the rest of that time needing a spark to be revived.
The enigmatic, charismatic, electric coach from the city of Stuttgart was just the remedy the Reds needed.
His style of football known as Gegenpress won Borussia Dortmund two league titles and the DFB Pokal, they also reached another two DFB Pokal finals and the UEFA Champions League final.
Embed from Getty ImagesSince arriving at Anfield Jurgen Klopp has won everything, the Champions League in 2019, the Premier League in 2020, the FA Cup and the League Cup in 2022,
Jurgen Klopp has won a Community Shield, and a UEFA Super Cup and has a FIFA Club World Cup in the bag as well, which no other manager has achieved.
On top of that, he has reached two more Champions League finals, another League Cup final and a Europa League final and came second losing by a point twice to Manchester City in 2019 and 2022.
In two successive seasons he reached 97 points finishing second and 99 points in the season they won the league an incredible feat only bettered by Manchester City in the two seasons prior.
Jurgen Klopp’s Glorious Predecessors
Yet Jurgen Klopp will not be considered the greatest Liverpool manager of all time, that seat is solely reserved for the legendary Bob Paisley, and one would think that the German would have to stay a much longer time on Merseyside if he wants to come close.
However, he can make a strong claim for the number two spot.
Embed from Getty ImagesHis competitors include some legends such as Bill Shankly, many Liverpool fans of the generation of the 1960’s and 70’s will call this blasphemy but here me out.
Shankly did everything to make Liverpool the club we know today, except he never won the European Cup.
Shankly’s greatness lies in the revival of a club that was sitting pretty in mid-table in the second division going nowhere fast.
Liverpool had spent eight seasons in the second tier before Shankly took the reins and not only got them into the top division but won two league titles and the club’s first-ever FA Cup.
The great Scot also managed to get the Reds to a European Cup semi-final which they lost on aggregate to Internazionale of Milan.
Eventually, he would win another league title and FA Cup in the early 70s whilst winning the club’s first-ever European trophy the UEFA Cup in 1973.
Embed from Getty Images EmbedCan Klopp’s record stand up to that? Hard to say, but the similarities are uncanny, both revived the club albeit Shankly from a much lower depth.
Both won multiple trophies, and both won a first for the club, Shankly the UEFA Cup and Klopp a first-ever Club World Cup.
If Shankly takes second place then Klopp surely has the third place.
Kenny Dalglish is a strong argument against that, another Scot who has left an incredible mark on the red side of the river Mersey.
First joining from Celtic as a player in 1977 he became the manager after Joe Fagan stepped down in 1985.
He would win another three league titles as Reds manager against the likes of Arsenal and Everton.
Unfortunately, Liverpool didn’t have any access to Europe due to the Heysel disaster in 1985 so the measures of his success are limited.
Many have wondered if Liverpool could have won another couple of European titles in the late 80’s to add to their tally but that will forever remain hypothetical.
What is for sure is King Kenny, as he is known to the Kopites, has won the joint second-most league titles of any Liverpool manager ever.
More Great Managers
Here are a few other contenders to compete for a place in the top four.
Tom Watson is not a name that rolls off the tongue when citing ex-Liverpool managers however he played a huge role in the club’s history.
Having stayed for almost 20 years he is the longest-serving manager in the club’s history and won the club its first two league titles in 1901 and 1906.
A name more familiar to Liverpool fans is Joe Fagan, winner of Liverpool’s fourth European Cup and their final league title in the three-peat.
That year in 1984 Liverpool won the treble under Fagan winning the League Cup alongside the other more prestigious trophies.
Unfortunately, his second season was not so good Liverpool finished second behind Everton and lost the European Cup final to Juventus.
Another treble winner is Gerard Houllier, his side won the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the UEFA Cup all in dramatic fashion.
Also Read: Tom Hartley Leads England to a Dramatic 28-Run Victory (worldinsport.com)
Another winner of dramatic, exceptionally dramatic, finals is Rafael Benitez, who can ever forget Istanbul in 2005 and to a lesser extent Cardiff a year later both finishing 3-3, both wins on penalties both including Steven Gerrard screamers.
The Spaniard missed out on a league title in 2009 but that was the closest Liverpool had come in seven years.
Klopp, it is safe to say ranks above all these managers, some younger Liverpool fans will argue that he comes above Kenny Dalglish as well.
Jurgen should safely leave the club as the third-greatest Liverpool manager of all time behind Paisley and Shankly.
Those two have built Liverpool to the image that they have today, Klopp just added to that image, finely nonetheless.
Image Credit: Deposit Photos
