Roy Keane was embarrassed after he ‘twitched’ at Jürgen Klopp’s famous Liverpool moment

Liverpool have officially begun their new era, with Arne Slot on the training ground making plans for the new season. But the Dutchman still has a big task ahead of him after Jürgen Klopp’s glittering tenure. Roy Keane admitted last month that he was wrong to “shudder” at one of the manager’s more famous moments.

Klopp, of course, won every major trophy at Anfield, ending Liverpool’s long wait for the Premier League title, and reached three Champions League finals, winning one of them. But it was a major coup for the Reds to sign him at all when they were languishing in mid-table following the steep decline of the Brendan Rodgers era.

Before Klopp could challenge for the big prizes, he had to turn Liverpool back into a top-four club. This required a restructuring of the squad, but also of the entire mentality of the club.

READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Brahim Diaz links, Nico Williams news, Mohammed Kudus setback

READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news: Arne Slot emerges as ‘top target’ and $59m Euro 2024 star ‘discussed’

On day one, he proclaimed his famous mantra, “Turning doubters into believers,” and he devoted much of his early tenure to changing the culture on and off the field.

Still, Keane was one of many who “cringed” when Klopp got his team to join hands and walk towards the fans after a home match against West Brom in December 2015. The Midlands club were firmly rooted in the lower midfield, but it took a 95th-minute equaliser from Divock Origi to earn Liverpool a point.

Under Klopp’s guidance, the team went to the Kop, greeted the fans and celebrated the fruits of the fight to the end. But at the time, the German was one of the few who saw the bigger picture.

“I was sitting at home thinking, ‘What is this guy up to?'” Keane admitted to Sky Sports last month. “But he knew what he was doing. He’s a clever lad.”

“Huge respect for what he has done with the club, from his personality to his style of football. They are back at the highest level of competition.”

Liverpool.com says: Years later, Liverpool players would walk to the Kop in a similar fashion after that legendary comeback against Barcelona. You can draw a line between that and the West Brom game.

There’s no direct connection but Klopp had to plant the seeds of that never-give-up attitude and that unshakeable confidence. He never celebrated a point against West Brom, he celebrated what that point meant. Keane wasn’t the only one to miss it then but he certainly looked stupid.

Now it’s up to Slot to establish his own culture. Fortunately, he inherits a pretty good starting point from Klopp and there’s significantly less work to do.