Riise: Jürgen's words gave me goosebumps
The appointment of Jürgen Klopp 'has lifted the Kop' according to former Liverpool defender John Arne Riise, who admitted he had goosebumps seeing the German manager speak about his move.
After being announced as the Reds’ 20th manager late last Thursday, the 48-year-old conducted his first official club interview and then fielded questions from the press amid a huge buzz.
Watching on from afar was Riise, the Norwegian who made 348 appearances and lifted the 2005 Champions League during his seven-year stay at Anfield.
Still a keen follower of his old club, he’s encouraged by what he has witnessed from Klopp so far and predicts an upturn in fortunes under the guidance of the new boss.
Riise explained to Sky Sports: “Jürgen Klopp has lifted the Kop. Now the belief is back.
“I’m very excited and I think he’s the right man to change things around. His press conference and interviews were amazing. It gave me goosebumps watching how he spoke.
“If his actions and the performances replicate the way he spoke in the press conference then things are looking very good.
“Anfield needs to be a place where people fear coming to play. When I played at Liverpool, opposition teams were afraid to come there because of the fans and the way the team played.
“Klopp said he wants his team to go at 100 per cent from the start for the full 90 minutes and I think the players will need to be fit, strong and ready to dig deep.
“They couldn’t have got a better manager than Jürgen Klopp. The whole club, the fans and the players have been given a real boost and I think they will fight for him but he needs to be given time.”
Get closer to Klopp with exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage from the manager's opening days at Liverpool on LFCTV and LFCTV GO: liverpoolfc.com/watch