As moments in Liverpool’s glorious history go, it hardly seemed the most auspicious.
Back in 2016, they had just been trounced in Europe’s minor final in the Swiss city of Basel, by a Sevilla side who weren’t even legends in their own households, after a second-half collapse at St Jakob-Park of almost embarrassing proportions.
Yet it is in the darkest moments before the dawn where Jurgen Klopp’s genius is most apparent. He shocked his players by insisting they gather in their hotel for a boozy get-together anyway, following that traumatic Europa League final defeat by Unai Emery’s well-drilled but modestly-talented Sevilla side.
And when he did, as they sang songs of defiance in the suddenly crowded bar of their sleepy Basel hotel, it dawned on his players this was truly a turning point for the slumbering giant of a club. Serious knee injury confined Jordan Henderson to the bench that night. He is one of only five players from Klopp’s squad that season to still remain at Anfield. And as he prepared to meet Emery again, in another massive European showdown, he took up the story.
“That night always sticks out to me, I always remember it,” he explained “Going back to the hotel, all the lads were disappointed, you want to go back to your room, not see anybody, get your head down. But the gaffer was very different from what I had ever seen before. It always sticks in my mind. He had everyone together in the bar. I felt as though he knew it was the start of something special to come.
“As a player it is very difficult to think that when you’ve just lost a final. Yet he sort of knew what was coming in the next few years - and he has proven it was the start of something special.” Henderson admits that in the aftermath of a harrowing cup final defeat, a glorious future was the furthest thing from his mind. Yet in the days and weeks that followed, he began to understand, his manager’s vision.
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He continued: “We didn’t see it, because we had just lost the final, we were devastated so it was more difficult as players to see past that moment. But that is why it stuck out because the manager was different, his mentality was different. Yes he was disappointed, but I felt he knew it was the start, and I felt that confidence transmitted to the players and we used that as motivation to try and get better. That day always sticks out for us for sure and it has been pretty eventful since then! Hopefully that can carry on.”
Klopp himself revealed that he told the players afterwards they would be back “even stronger”, placing his trust and belief in them. But Henderson admitted that he didn’t even need that moment, deep down. For him, Liverpool ’s history changed the moment the German coach walked in the door. That was the turning point after two decades of decline and disappointment. Asked when he felt something special was building, he replied: “I felt there was something special as soon as the manager came in, to be honest. Everyone did. The whole lift he gave to the club, the team, the players. You felt it then. The manager had a very good way of seeing the bigger picture and using that experience to our benefit going forward.”
Now, they stand on the verge of history, as the first team to go into May still chasing the four major trophies. Yet Henderson warned, for all Klopp’s vision, no legend has been written just yet. He added: “People will talk about all the things we can win, but I know with a couple of bad games it can all be over. It’s a massive, massive few weeks, and we need to keep the mentality, the focus, because this is huge now.”
