On the dawn of Liverpool’s 2018/19 Premier League campaign, excitement could not be more palpable.
A solid season last year with some exquisite performances saw Reds fans treated to some fine displays which led them all the way to the Champions League final and to a second consecutive fourth-place finish in the league.
Last season’s final in Kiev was Klopp’s third major final since he took charge of Liverpool back in October 2015, but his side are yet to win one after losing 3-1 to Sevilla in the Europa League, falling to a penalty shootout defeat to Manchester City in the League Cup and May’s regretful outing against Madrid.
While it is a very exciting time to be a Liverpool fan with the brand of football that Klopp has given to his team, the feeling around the Club of positivity and togetherness and the expectation that something big is about to happen, it is also a very crucial time during Klopp’s managerial reign on Merseyside.
With that expectation comes huge pressure. Pressure for wins, pressure for trophies and in particular – pressure for league titles.
I mentioned Klopp’s three failed attempts at winning silverware so far during his time at Anfield, and while fans can reference them as clear progression that the team has made, should he lose another or not at least come close to a league title soon, people may start asking questions.
The first few losses in finals people could potentially put down to the fact that the Liverpool team and squad still wasn’t quite Klopp’s as he bought and sold players in order to mould Liverpool into his vision, rather than that of his predecessor, Brendan Rodgers.
Maybe we could scratch Kiev out of our memories too, as the events that transpired were freakish to say the least, and Liverpool looked more than in the game until that point.
But there aren’t going to be many more times that this can happen – Klopp has an adoring fan base behind him, but while silverware remains a dream, critics will start to point this out more readily.
They often say that players are judged on their careers by the medals they have hanging in their trophy rooms once they’ve retired, and it’s the same for managers.
Now I am not for one minute suggesting I’m going to get on Klopp’s back if we don’t win a trophy this season, but the longer the wait for one goes on, the louder those noises will grow.
Mourinho is playing his usual mind games and saying that Liverpool have got to win the league after the summer of spending we’ve had. I disagree.
But his point is that Liverpool are due a trophy, and that wait can’t be allowed to continue for years more.
My faith it Klopp remains strong, and I’m confident that he the man to bring great success to Liverpool – I just feel like he needs to go close at least this season, on more than one front, to really start to give us a glimpse of the future, or I feel people will start murmuring