Jurgen Klopp has revealed how late-night walks through Liverpool helped him fall in love with the city upon his arrival in 2015.
Klopp’s return to Liverpool for the LFC Foundation’s legends match was “difficult with timing,” he himself admitted, with Arne Slot‘s side currently in the doldrums.
However, it wouldn’t stop him returning as he “would do pretty much anything for them, walk topless through the city” even!
While supporters are currently feeling a disconnect from the current players and coach, Klopp’s presence reminded fans of the united spirit embraced in recent years.
What helped fans feel so at one with Klopp was his understanding of the city and its people.
Arriving in Liverpool and exploring
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Friday, October 9, 2015: Liverpool's new manager Jürgen Klopp during a photo-call at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
When asked by This Is Anfield how important this was for a Liverpool manager, Klopp rather tellingly provided this response: “The problem with this question is that it leads to an answer I don’t want to give.”
While he didn’t answer our question, the German did talk about his connection to the city on That Peter Crouch Podcast.
Speaking about his arrival on Merseyside in 2015, Klopp recalled: “We were a bit naive in that sense because we thought we can have a life in the city, because in Germany the people knew me but it’s not that I couldn’t walk through streets.
“First night, my assistant Pete Krawietz, Ulla (partner) and I, we just went around the corner from the Hope Street Hotel and had a beer or whatever.”
This would be the only time Klopp had a pint in the city centre, though, due to the public attention he received after stopping for a photo outside the old School for the Blind on Hardman Street.
When he first took the Liverpool job, Klopp stayed at the Hope Street Hotel before moving to an apartment near Sefton Park.
He would later settle in Steven Gerrard‘s old house in the wealthy suburb of Formby, but prior to that, he got to know Liverpool.
“We fell in love with the city instantly,” Klopp said.
“First we were in a hotel but we didn’t want to live in a hotel. It was nice, but we wanted to have something like a home until we find a real home.
The sun rises behind the Sefton Park Palm House
“So we moved in a flat and at night time we always walked through the city, and it was really nice just to get to know the city a little bit. We just walked through.
“We all know Liverpool of course has rough parts, but it’s beautiful as well.
“And then you get to know more and more people and then it’s really difficult not to fall in love with it, because the people are special.
“Whatever other people say, people here are special and so that’s why it felt home. I mean it was home for nine years and it still feels home. When I fly in, it’s coming home.
“Meeting so many people I still know, even though a lot of things changed meanwhile – that’s normal – it’s really nice to catch up and I’m in contact with a lot of people anyway.
“I left friends for life.”
Jurgen Klopp can’t be replaced – but we need more to get behind
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, March 18, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot before the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd Leg match between Liverpool FC and Galatasaray A.?. at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
A criticism levelled at Slot has been the coach’s inability to connect with supporters, particularly this season.
A cynic would say this wasn’t a problem last year, when fans were bouncing and singing his name in the stands, but when the chips are down, people need a cause to get behind.
Klopp provided messages of reassurance during periods when the team weren’t playing well. Slot has failed to provide that rallying cause this season.
The Dutchman lives near Manchester airport and, perhaps understandably due to his fame, doesn’t come into the city centre.
When he arrived, we were praising Slot for being his own man. However, as time has gone on, it would have been nice for him to become closer to the club and its people.
While we need to accept that nobody can replace Klopp’s aura, Liverpool’s manager still needs to command respect and feel at one with the fans.
Bill Shankly once said: “At a football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters.”
For Liverpool to succeed, that trinity needs to exist in harmony. It feels like, at the moment, many of those at the club could do with a cultural lesson about the Reds and their city.