Discussion done for impatient Klopp
Marc Fox
The talking is almost over.
You could forgive Jurgen Klopp an ounce of impatience in his latest press conference to preview Liverpool's first match under his charge this Saturday against Tottenham Hotspur.
He's spent four months out of the game since leaving Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season, waiting for the right opportunity in the Premier League to arrive, and now he's been forced to endure another two weeks without a competitive match while the vast majority of this squad played for their home nations across the globe.
Not that you'd find the affable 48-year-old showing too much impatience though, and that despite his bewilderment at the vast amount of media attention that his replacing Brendan Rodgers at Anfield has garnered.
Klopp admitted yesterday that he is puzzled that photographers are constantly camped outside the front door of his new home, waiting patiently for one snap.
And he's even already started declining the opportunity for selfies with supporters while taking a break from training in his new city, pointing out how quickly photographs of him dining out tend to turn up on Twitter or in newspapers.
"It looks like I'm always in restaurants and bars," he explained.
Klopp has been an entirely positive force in Liverpool this past fortnight, garnering friends in the stands as well as in the media for his willingness to embrace the unique intensity of the Premier League.
He even played along in yesterday's press briefing when one Norwegian journalist held aloft a "normal one" branded replica shirt when asking a question.
That said, he is making it clear that now is the time to let his off-field methods pay their dividends on the pitch.
In stark - and certainly deliberate - contrast to his appearance at last week's unveiling at Anfield, Klopp fronted for journalists yesterday in full training gear.
The message to the wider world was obvious: don't dwell on the glasses and hair (the so-called "Kloppelganger look" as coined by the local newspaper in Liverpool); we've been hard at work all week.
Indeed, he made it clear that he expects certain attributes of his squad such as their readiness and mentality to change overnight, even though the tougher challenge of team compatibility might take longer to refine.
"I had to cool down myself a little bit, by not giving them too much information," he said of his first week of training sessions.
What he has gotten across though is his desire to see them enjoy playing for Liverpool FC.
That enjoyment was markedly absent from the second half of Rodgers' unfulfilling tenure at the club, tailoring off drastically is the wake of missing out on the 2013/14 Premier League title so cruelly and then seeing a procession of established stars leave the club.
Klopp has made it clear that such a lack of conviction must be contained to the past.
"Let's run and fight and shoot, defend together and attack together, like your best dream about what football looks like," he said.
"I want to see more braveness, more fun in their eyes. I want to see they like what they do."
Jurgen Klopp Calls Time on Anfield Career
Buy tickets for soccer matches around the world