IT'S become a cliché to conflate football and religion but in the case of Liverpool, the parallels are often obvious. Just like the adherents to the world’s most popular faiths, Reds supporters are forever looking at their canon of ancient stories and shared experiences for guidance for the present and the future. A famous striker departing, a tight title-race, the importance of powerful centre-back or a transformative, charismatic manager? Thanks to the club’s rich heritage, there’s seemingly a precedent for everything.
Jürgen Klopp fully understands the metaphysical overtones of the job but as a devout Protestant, he finds the messianic metaphors a little uncomfortable. What’s more, religion’s belief that answers are inherent in the teachings of the past run fundamentally counter to his own coaching philosophy, which is one of exclusively forward-looking immediacy. The Swabian considers too much introspection or a preoccupation with days gone by as unproductive bordering on detrimental.
In his very first press conference, he warned the club’s supporters against “carrying the backpack of history” and few of his Q&As since have passed without him being dismissive of attempts to put Liverpool’s current situation into historical context. A classic case in point was his steadfast refusal to engage in any discussions about Steven Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea in 2014. Since none of the LFC players or staff involved were still around five years, he reasoned, there was simply no point discussing the subject.
Liverpool’s all-time top scorers in European Cup history:
Steven Gerrard – 21
Roberto Firmino – 14
Mohamed Salah – 14
Sadio Mane – 14
Ian Rush – 14We’re living in a golden age pic.twitter.com/E7WKP7ZvfJ
— LFC Stats (@LFCData) April 18, 2019
Klopp’s determination to manage ‘outside history’ at one if not the most historically-conscious club in England serves a double purpose. Firstly, the idea is to lower the stakes to humanly-manageable levels. Greatness is seldom achieved by those who are constantly measured against past greats and reminded of the enormity of the occasion. On the contrary, the ultimate aim for professional athletes is to perform “in the zone”, unencumbered by outside expectations and wholly unconscious of the wider context of the contest. The way Klopp sees it, Liverpool’s long run of failed attempts to win the Premier League makes it particularly imperative to drive as fast as possible, foot down, without looking into the rear mirror.
The second reason is unconnected to LFC’s specific dreams and traumas. His own brush with triumphs and crushing defeats at Mainz and Dortmund has taught Klopp that nothing can ever be gained from thinking about the end of the story before you actually get there. “A skier would never raise ups his arms in celebration after going past the first gate,” is one of the lines that give shape to his thinking. He’s also explained many times that footballers are better served focussing on the next game than on the possible outcome. “There are people who say that you’re not ambitious enough if you don’t expressly formulate your targets. These people have no idea how you achieve your goals.”
As his team enter the final stretch of the campaign as contenders for the two biggest trophies, you can expect his “step by step”-mantra to become even more pronounced. Part of his stoical mindset is informed by his religious conviction that winning or not winning is not the defining criterion for a life well-lived but there’s also a sense that there’s always a next game. As a teenager, Klopp used to love reading ‘Mort and Phil’, a comic strip about two secret agents who constantly suffer terrible mishaps and grave mutilations without any lasting damage, appearing as good as new in the very next panel.The (little) time needed for regeneration by those characters was brilliant,” he said. “It didn’t matter whether you were flattened by a steamroller or fell off a cliff 800 metres high – things simply carried on!” Klopp wants LFC supporters and players to ignore the past and instead to enjoy the moment. It’s the here and now that matters.
