DOUBTERS TO BELIEVERS REVIEW: Liverpool fans may love the documentary on Jurgen Klopp’s era – but here is why it doesn’t compare to all these others, writes LEWIS STEELE
We all remember those first few weeks of the Covid pandemic, five years ago – would you believe that? – when many became basketball’s biggest fan and were hooked on the trials and tribulations of Michael Jordan et al in The Last Dance.
We remember the first All Or Nothing documentary on Manchester City taking us behind the curtain of Pep Guardiola’s dressing-room antics in their 100-point season.
Or Mikel Arteta pumping fake crowd noise in Arsenal training sessions, Jose Mourinho lecturing Dele Alli at Tottenham Hotspur.
Then there was the circus of Sunderland Till’ I Die, an insightful peek into boardrooms at elite or, as that docuseries made it seem, tinpot football clubs.
Welcome to Wrexham was entertaining, while the Sheffield United and Neil Warnock show in 2005 is still well worth a watch.
The list could go on and in fact, that is the point.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool reign is the subject of a four-part documentary on Amazon Prime
The documentary contains behind the scenes footage from Klopp’s Liverpool dressing room
The series will stir emotions of Liverpool fans of Klopp’s nine-year Liverpool tenure
Have football documentaries reached saturation point? Are there too many flies on the walls of these clubs?
The latest offering is Lorton Entertainment’s four-part series on Jurgen Klopp and his final months at Liverpool, which is released on Amazon Prime today.
If you are a Liverpool fan, you may enjoy it. It features some heart-warming scenes and throwback footage of the German’s nine-year tenure at Anfield, where he transformed the team from ‘doubters into believers’ – his stated target in his first press conference.
But if you are not an avid Reds supporter, it does not carry that level of behind-the-scenes insight that makes a football documentary gripping.
There are no memorable scenes like Danny Rose confronting Mourinho, or Guardiola giving his team the hairdryer treatment when losing to Wigan in the FA Cup, or Arteta playing You’ll Never Walk Alone through a speaker at training to prepare them for the Anfield atmosphere.
Nothing like Warnock shouting: ‘That’s a load of b******, you’ve got to die for three points!’ Or Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds giving goalkeeper Ben Foster a running hug after a last-minute penalty save.
Or Sunderland’s Charlie Methven telling his communications manager to fabricate attendance figures and manager Chris Coleman almost squaring up to a fan who confronts him after the club have been relegated to League One.
The Liverpool documentary is a nice watch – probably emotional for Reds fans to recap the glorious era – but hardly the warts-and-all, behind-the-scenes series that would have got the whole of the footballing community talking, not just those of a certain persuasion.
The series lacks memorable scenes of previous documentaries, like Jose Mourinho lecturing Dele Alli’s during Tottenham’s All of Nothing series
Mikel Arteta playing You’ll Never Walk Alone through a speaker at training ground to prepare them for the Anfield atmosphere was a highlight of Arsenal’s documentary
Klopp’s announcement he would step down as Liverpool boss opens the documentary
Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders proves to be the most revealing character in Liverpool’s series
It starts with a tense scene, to be fair. Klopp walks out of his office flanked by Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan, agent Marc Kosicke and the club’s communications chief. The music makes it feel like the opening credits to a heist movie.
He then walks into the press conference and tells the local media why he is leaving the club, often looking directly into the camera to address fans. The rest of the first episode is largely just archived footage of games and Klopp’s journey from Mainz and Borussia Dortmund to Liverpool.
The old footage is warming but nothing we have not seen before. Some scenes are insightful but none the striking sort you will be rushing to bring up in conversation down the pub with your pals this weekend.
The most revealing character in the series is not its billed protagonist Klopp but his right-hand man Pep Lijnders, who also left Liverpool to pursue his own career in management at Red Bull Salzburg — though he has already left that position.
Multi-lingual Dutch coach Lijnders is shown having a detailed conversation with striker Darwin Nunez in an analysis room where the Uruguayan is told to train his hardest and not get frustrated. Given recent developments of Slot saying similar, it is an intriguing scene.
Lijnders also reveals he had a ‘confrontation’ with Klopp over letting right back Conor Bradley go out on loan to Bolton in 2022-23. He wanted the Northern Irish full back to stay and, again, with hindsight that is noteworthy given how Bradley has succeeded in the first team now.
Lijnders has a detailed conversation with Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez, left, and revealed he had a ‘confrontation’ with Klopp over the decision to send Conor Bradley, right, out on loan
Klopp gives a hilarious rant when asked to discuss a Merseyside Derby defeat which ended Liverpool’s title hopes last season
The documentary’s focus remains on Klopp and will be an emotional watch for Liverpool fans
There is a hilarious rant from Klopp when asked to talk about his feelings prior to a Merseyside Derby defeat, in which Liverpool’s title hopes took a final nail, where he says: ‘I have to go back to the f***ing Everton game that I tried hard to get out of my mind and tell you what I thought before this f***ing game?’
The German also jokes about how much older he looks now compared to old photos, saying it feels like he has aged 500 years, and there are also some one-liners about referees and legendary status.
This documentary focuses on a legend of football management, that is clear even if Klopp would never admit it. An emotional, fun watch for Liverpool fans — but not the fly-on-the-wall, warts-and-all peek behind the curtain many football followers crave from these shows.
