For the first time in history, Jurgen Klopp’s latest award gave him back-to-back FIFA Best Men’s Coach wins, something that, in my opinion, was extremely well-deserved.
That’s not to say that Hansi Flick won’t feel somewhat aggrieved (I mean, will he really?) at the result – as many have rightly pointed out, the Bayern coach has won more trophies than games lost.
By any stretch of the imagination, it should have been impossible for Klopp to win; yet, it wasn’t, and for one very good reason: the Premier League title.
I know, I know – how on earth could one trophy outweigh five, including the Champions League?
Imagine the 30-year-wait for the league crown, imagine a score of managers coming and going, imagine all the hope built up that Liverpool might just have their league duck broken, just imagine the sheer weight of all that.
No disrespect meant, but if the Reds had been the dominant force in the Premier League for as long as Bayern have (eight titles in a row, was it?) then, of course, the English title would not weigh as favourably against Flick’s remarkable trophy haul.
Taking the argument perhaps a smidge further than necessary, I should state my belief that the title simply means more as a culmination of four years’ worth of work from Jurgen Klopp.
It was not an overnight success; we weren’t bankrolled to domination, as a couple of title-winning sides of yore were.
Make no mistake, this was a Liverpool side that earned its place in a league in which the last Premier League champions had amassed 98 points.
Klopp didn’t just take over one of the most envied first-XI’s in Europe, nor did he do so in a league all but bending at the knee to the club – he earnt this.