The Klopp story: From Bundesliga 2 to top of the world

“I am the normal one,” was how Klopp introduced himself to the media when unveiled as new Liverpool manager in October 2015. His open and humourful demeanour saw him win over fans in England just as quickly as he’d done previously at Dortmund and Mainz. But on-field wins are something he’s had to work a lot harder for.

“I was an average player, and at Mainz I started out as an average coach,” Klopp said about himself. But it’s probably that career progression that holds the secret of the man who left Bundesliga 2 to win some of the biggest titles in European club football.

It’s somehow typical of Klopp's career that the door to professional football opened after a defeat. In 1990, the Stuttgart native was playing for Rot-Weiss Frankfurt and reached the play-offs for promotion to Bundesliga 2, but they lost all six games in their group that consisted of Schweinfurt, Reutlingen and Mainz. The latter topped the standings and also took a liking to the then 22-year-old, who, although not very delicate, was incredibly powerful. The 05ers decided to sign the blonde attacker, who did indeed now find himself in the second division.

And Klopp found his feet there straight away. He was a regular from the start in his debut season at Mainz, playing 33 out of a possible 38 games. The 1990/91 season was also the only one of his 11 years playing at Mainz in which the 1.91-metre-tall right-footer scored double figures, with his 10 goals playing a major part in the promoted club's very respectable eighth-place finish.

In the subsequent years, the 05ers were primarily concerned with staying up, and Klopp's role became increasingly defensive. He initially moved from forward to midfielder before finding his best position as a dynamic right-back. His technical shortcomings, which the Stuttgart native never made a secret of, could also be better concealed there. “When I sneezed, my teammates always wished me ‘technique’ instead of ‘health’,” Klopp once joked about his time as a player.

Nevertheless, he almost made it into the Bundesliga as a player, as Mainz came to within one win from top-flight football on the final matchday at Wolfsburg in 1996/97. And this despite the fact that his team had only narrowly avoided relegation on the last day two years previously. Although they went ahead against the Wolves in this winner-takes-all clash – and even with Klopp scoring Mainz’s second and setting off on one of his famous celebratory runs to get the fans and his teammates going after his header – they lost 5-4 to miss out on promotion.

In the years that followed, 05ers remained in the safety of mid-table, with Klopp as an important pillar of the team. It was not until 2000/01, his last season as a player, that his appearances became more sporadic. After a defeat in Fürth on Matchday 23, his side had not won in seven games and were in the relegation zone. In hindsight, that match is one of the major turning points in Mainz’s history. It was Klopp's last professional appearance, although nobody actually knew this when Markus Schuler was subbed on for the now 33-year-old in the 69th minute. “I made it to 325 Bundesliga 2 games without mastering a single trick,” Klopp wryly summarised his career, and not without pride. To this day, he is Mainz's record appearance holder in the second division.

Klopp himself was responsible for his abrupt retirement, as his coaching career began just three days after the defeat in Fürth and in the midst of Carnival. When he was introduced in the Mainz press room on Shrove Tuesday as the successor to Eckard Krautzun, who had been dismissed, many thought it was a joke. Christian Heidel, the general manager at the time, remembers the comment from the representative of the Mainzer Rheinzeitung newspaper, who asked in bewilderment: “What's Klopp doing here?”

Klopp's players immediately provided the answer on the pitch. The 05ers won six of his first seven games as head coach (plus one draw) to ultimately ensure Bundesliga 2 safety. In his early days, the future coaching star benefited enormously from the fact that he had already studied sports science while playing and had obtained his coaching licence. He was particularly inspired by his former coach Wolfgang Frank, about whom Klopp said: “He hammered the running movements into us. That was a revelation for me.” Frank managed to instil in his players the belief that they could overcome even the most formidable opponents. “We were able to win games with our system against teams that were better than us,” recalled Klopp. An ability that has also always characterised his teams.

For Klopp himself, the switch from player to coach wasn’t as big as one might expect. “In many areas, I was already the boss before, without wanting to be. I was one of the oldest players in the team. If the lads weren't running enough, I told them when I was still wearing the jersey myself,” Klopp explained of the transition. However, two things took some getting used to for him: “The strangest thing was that I had to move out of the dressing room and that I was no longer sharing a room with Jürgen Kramny.”

With the philosophy of Frank, who sadly passed away in 2013 at the age of 62, in mind, he welded together a powerful squad in his first full season as head coach with his skills as what Germans call a Menschenfänger – literally a people-catcher, someone who’s personality draws others in. A first Bundesliga promotion seemed within reach for much of the season. The 05ers were 10 points ahead of fourth place for 30 matchdays in 2001/02, only to slip from second to a meaningless fourth on the final day. A draw at Union Berlin would’ve been enough, and the score was still 1-1 after 82 minutes, but two late goals from Die Eisernen brought tears to Mainz eyes.

Despite that setback, Mainz immediately got back on their feet under Klopp. They were at the top end of the table throughout 2002/03 and went into the final matchday level on points with third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt. What followed was a finish for the ages. With 10 minutes to go, Benjamin Auer's four goals had Mainz 4-0 up at Eintracht Braunschweig and Frankfurt were drawing 3-3 against Reutlingen. Mainz then conceded, while Eintracht took a 4-3 lead but still needed two goals. While Klopp’s side had finished their game and were listening to the end of proceedings in Frankfurt via a radio, Bakary Diakité and Alexander Schur then hit two more for Eintracht in added time to send them into the Bundesliga and leave the 05ers stranded in Bundesliga 2, this time by a single goal.

Experiences like two agonising failed promotions can break a team. But Klopp managed to get his team back on track for his third season. Alongside his ingenious pressing and counter-pressing tactics, it’s probably the human element that is Klopp's greatest recipe for success. “Jürgen presents himself as he is to the outside world. He’s vastly superior to other coaches because they spend the whole time thinking about what they need to say to come across this way or that,” Heidel said in a Mainz podcast a few years ago.

With the authentic Klopp, Mainz once again went into the final day of the 2003/04 season chasing the three teams occupying the promotion spots. They were one point behind Alemannia Aachen, who opened the door for the 05ers with a 1-0 loss in Karlsruhe. They did not miss out on this opportunity and saw off Eintracht Trier 3-0. After 14 years in Bundesliga 2, Klopp and Mainz had finally forced their way into the top tier of German football. However, promotion here didn’t mean a final farewell from Bundesliga 2, because after three years in the Bundesliga, Mainz were relegated.

The fact that the 05ers stuck with Klopp as they dropped back down to Bundesliga 2 speaks for the enormous standing that the coach had earned in the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate. “In Mainz, I could take a dump on Ludwigsstraße and everyone would say: ‘Great, Kloppo!’”, is how Klopp described his popularity in the city in his usual colourful way. The club entrusted Klopp with once again achieving promotion, which once again came up just short. But just as he had done at the beginning of his playing career, Klopp personally made the leap that he had failed to make with the team and returned to the Bundesliga in 2008 with Borussia Dortmund. Of course, the Mainz legend would have preferred to say goodbye with promotion, but as Klopp later said in directly translating a German phrase while at Liverpool: “It's not a wish concert.” – You can’t always get what you want.

Although Klopp’s days at Mainz were his most formative, it’s his time in charge at the Signal Iduna Park and Anfield that is best known and the most successful for both him and fans. At Dortmund, he turned a sleeping giant into two-time Bundesliga champions. At Liverpool, he led them to their first title of the Premier League era. He won the Champions League, also lifted the FA Cup and was twice voted The Best FIFA Men’s Coach. His announcement that he would step down from his position at Liverpool in the summer of 2024 caused an unprecedented outpouring of affection around the world.

It shows how endearing Klopp has remained despite all his success. Even with a full trophy cabinet, he could still introduce himself at a press conference today with “I am the normal one” - and it wouldn't be a lie.