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"We will get stronger."
Those were the words of Jurgen Klopp after taking charge of his first game as Liverpool manager in 2015 — 10 years ago.
Klopp was installed as Brendan Rodgers' replacement on 8 October 2015, but that date fell midway through the first week of an international break, and he had to wait 10 days for his first assignment in the dugout. Tottenham was the host, and Liverpool emerged from the Premier League game at White Hart Lane with a creditable point, but it was clear that Klopp had loftier ambitions than drawing games against teams like Spurs.
By the end of that season, Klopp had led to Liverpool to a European final, and although the Reds suffered defeat to Sevilla in it — missing out on Champions League qualification for the next season in the process — it gave fans a taste of what was to come.
Klopp's first summer in charge saw the arrivals of key players like Sadio Mane, Gini Wijnaldum and Joel Matip, and those players helped the club to a fourth-placed finish in the German's first full season in charge, securing Champions League qualification which attracted the likes of Mohamed Salah and, a few months later, Virgil van Dijk to Anfield.
A Champions League final in 2018 was followed by Champions League glory in 2019, but Klopp's greatest achievement goes down as restoring Liverpool to the summit of English soccer in 2020.
In an interview in 2020, Klopp recalled his early days at the club and said that it did not take long for people to buy in to his methods, laying the foundations for future success.
"It was really clear we needed time," Klopp said. "It was clear we cannot fix it overnight.
"Everyone wanted that, but we couldn't, so I had to ask for time. I knew.
"Before that in my career I never got the sack, so I had no experience with that, but I knew then it was a different level, and if I can't deliver here quick enough, then I will get the sack.
"We got that time, and the nice thing is that after six, seven, eight games, they were really positive about the situation, they realised we were on the right path.
"From that moment they didn't question it one second.
"They were full of faith and trust, and they said the path we will stay on, and everything will be fine.
"That's what we did then. When we lost finals against Sevilla or City or Real Madrid, I think pundits say then if he doesn't win the next one then they might change, but internally it was never somebody thinking like this."
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